Paradise
by Rylinn
Summary: Elisha, a simple healer from the church Petru, never expected to be kidnapped by members of the infamous Akatsuki. From the dark chambers to the clear blue skies. From one captivity to another. Who would have guessed that two S-ranked criminals would be the ones to show her the sun. HidanxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Paradise**

_epilogue_

Echoes bounced through the empty hallways of Petru. Shadows danced across the concrete wall as the two women were making their way forward. It was as if the whole building was freed from any signs of life, but Elisha knew very well that she and her servant was far from alone, despite the lack of humans surrounding them. The sound of bare feet touching concrete floor and torches burning was all that could be heard.

"Your father has requested you to wear one of the newly imported dresses for the ceremony this evening, my lady. I'm sorry that I didn't inform you earlier, it must have slipped my mind." Neriah said, breaking the comfortable silence. She was talking with a low voice, as if her words would be more discrete if said in a more quiet manner. Elisha smiled gently, her face not visible to her loyal servant.

"Don't worry about it Neriah. It doesn't matter what I am to wear, it doesn't make any difference anyway. Do you have the dress with you?"

"Yes, my lady. After you've had your bath, I suggest I do your hair. It would do you well to impress the higher ups."

Elisha let out a soft sigh. She new Neriah was right, as always, though it was easier said than done. The higher ups had never quite liked the young blonde woman. She remembered the first time she was introduced to them personally. The two old ladies seemed to have a problem with smiling youngsters. They had scolded her immediately for carrying such a carefree expression. Apparently, smiling was to prove arrogance and naivety in their eyes. She wished that her father had told her that before making her face the most critical people in the church. Elisha had never been quite sure if her first impression had made her repulsive for the rest of their meetings, regardless, she had gotten used to all the stern looks.

A gentle hand was placed on the blonde woman's shoulder, pulling her out of her daydreaming.

"We're here."

The all familiar bathhouse. Neriah pushed open the big wooden door, holding it up for her superior. Elisha made her way in, following their daily ritual.

The sound of water replaced the empty echoes. Elisha sunk down into the oversized tub, dipping her chin under the water before leaning back. Her eyes widened when cold water started flowing down her head.

"Neriah! Warn me next time!" The blonde gasped, feeling slightly chilly. Her red-haired friend responded with a playful grin.

"You looked like you we're sinking in your thoughts, I was merely trying to save you, my lady." Elisha couldn't help but to smile.

"You truly are one trustworthy servant, Neriah."

The said woman smiled proudly.

"So..." she started. "What would you like your hair to smell of today? Roses? Or maybe something sweet?" Neriah said while looking through a few bottles.

"Anything will do, as long as I'm clean." Elisha said, smiling.

"As you wish, my lady."

The feeling of her servants hands massaging her scalp made Elisha close her eyes. She could feel bubbles and water running through her long blonde hair occasionally. It was one of the most relaxing things she went through on a daily basis.

"If I may ask, are you nervous about tonight?"

Elisha opened her eyes.

"No. It's just another healing session. I can't say that I'm looking forward to meet the elders though."

Neriah laughed.

A knock on the door made both girls jump. Elisha gave her servant a look. Before the blonde could ask why they were being disrupted, av voice from outside the door spoke up.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, my lady, but your father has requested your presence. He would like for you to meet him in his room as soon as possible. It sounded quite urgent."

Elisha looked a little taken aback.

"I understand, thank you."

Both girls didn't move for a moment. The sound of the servants footstep finally disappeared.

"I wonder what this is all about. He rarely calls upon my presence like this." Elisha said, biting her lip.

"Don't worry yourself, my lady, he probably just want to see that you look acceptable for tonight's healing session with the mayor. "

The blonde tilted her head slightly. That was a possibility by all means. This healing session was, after all, a little bit more special than the previous ones. Never in her life had she had the privilege of healing such an important man as the mayor. The church Petru had for a long time, had people come from all over the world, just for the single reason of being healed. Elisha had seen her father heal lethal wounds as if they were nothing but simple scratches. Her abilities was far from his. She could without any doubt fix bad wounds, but not as quickly as her father. Sometimes it could take her hours, if not days. Why she was to heal an important person was beyond her. The blonde usually only healed farmers or travelers with minor injuries, while the higher ups and her father took care of ninjas and the ones with critical wounds.

Yes, that was most likely it... Her father wanted to talk about the mayor...Or maybe...

Maybe this was finally the day. She almost didn't dare to even think it. Perhaps, this was the day she would finally set her foot out of the church. The first day, she would witness the clear-blue sky with her own eyes. The first day, she would feel the touch of grass beneath her feet, or a wind-breeze against her face. She wanted to see, and feel it all, not just read about it in books, or hear it from others. She wanted to live. She longed for the outside world so much that it ached. As much as she enjoyed living a simple life with Neriah and her father, she couldn't help but to feel like she was missing out on her own life while she was helping others. Countless of times, she had wanted to escape. Her hand went to the cross hanging around her neck. She gripped it tightly. Her selfish thoughts disgusted her. She was needed here. She had no time to play around like a child outside. For heavens sake, she was already 18 years old, soon going 19. She had already devoted herself to her God, and the people. She wouldn't betray neither of them.

And still...

A simple glance at the outside world... wouldn't it be enough? Just a peak through the window, anything!

"Are you even listening to me, my lady?"

Elisha tensed momentarily.

"I've finished drying your hair, but you barely seemed to notice." Neriah said, her voice sounding slightly amused.

The blonde blinked, then stepped out of the tub. It was as if she had returned back to reality again. Neriah quickly dried the rest of her body, then helped her step into the new dress. It was completely white. Elisha sighed. Always simple colors. She stepped into her shoes and sat down in a chair while Neriah swiftly pulled her hair into a bun. Her bangs stayed in place, covering her eyes slightly.

"There we go." Neriah stated proudly.

"You look fantastic."

Elisha smiled faintly. The comment only reminded her of something else she also wanted to see.

Her face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Paradise**

_Chapter 1: You wished for this_

Elisha did her best not to fidget under her fathers stare. He seemed more serious than usual. She had greeted him respectfully like she always did, but he had yet to speak. The old man before her had always had a gentle way around him that easily made people feel comfortable around him. She felt none of that familiar feeling at the moment.

Finally, he rose from his chair and walked in front of her. The distance between them made it feel like she was facing a stranger, not the man who had loved and raised her for her entire life.

Suddenly, his eyes softened.

"You look so beautiful. "

Elisha smiled.

"Thank you father. The dress is very lovely."

The silence once again rose, but before it got unpleasant her father locked eyes with her.

"I'm sure you must be feeling confused to why I have called upon you like this."

The blonde nodded.

"This is not about the mayor." He said with a serious face. The girl could feel her chest tighten with anticipation.

"In all honesty, you are more than capable to start caring for the so called important people by now. If their injury isn't beyond your abilities, I see no reason for the old geezers to steal their attention. You have the manners to deal with them without making yourself look like a fool."

"Thank you father."

His eyes showed signs of worry. Elisha frowned.

"Like I said, I have other things I need to discuss with you." He said as he started walking towards his desk. He sat down carefully and picked up a piece of paper.

"I spoke to Girga last night..." He paused as his thumbs mindlessly stroked the paper.

"She told me the town next to us was attacked by two men. They killed over 40 innocent civilians along with 15 guards. We're not sure just about how many are in need of healing."

Elisha's eyes widened. Over 50 people? The small town Rigware wasn't even famous for anything special, no shady persons lived there to her knowledge. She had healed lots of farmers, and they all seemed to be genuinely good people. Why would anyone attack a town like that?

"I can see you are confused." He sighed and placed the paper next to him.

"I was also confused, so I sent Nathaniel to talk with some of the survivors as well as heal their wounds."

Her father was looking more and more bothered by the second.

"What he was told by some of the farmers was somewhat..." He paused and frowned, like he'd tasted something bitter.

"Alarming..."

He locked eyes with his daughter once again.

"They were looking for the family with the Deus bloodline. In other words, they are looking for us."

The young girl felt a pang of fear shoot through her body. She had felt fear before, but not like this. Her life had never been directly in danger, nor the members of her family. Elisha was considered to be mature, calm and sensible by most of the people in the church, but upon hearing these chocking news, she felt like her true colors were starting to show. She was nothing but a coward.

"F-father, what are you saying? Are they coming here?"

The old man before her said nothing for a while.

"Most likely. Seeing as this happened just recently, it wouldn't be surprising if the two men find their way over here in a near future. Possibly today."

It was as if her brain had stopped working. She couldn't think, she couldn't speak, all she could feel was fear. The thoughts of running away passed through her mind. They seemed more tempting than ever. It shamed her to no end. Neriah had always told her she was a kind woman, and how blessed she was to serve under Elisha. She didn't feel kind. She felt like the worst scum of the earth for having such cowardly thoughts.

"Listen to me, Elisha." Her father suddenly said. His dominant voice shaking her back to sanity.

"Whatever those people want, will not hinder us from doing what we have always been doing. We're going to go down to main hall right now, and we're going to heal those in need."

Elisha nodded, still feeling nothing but fear. She didn't want the people she cared for to die, and she didn't want to die herself. She swallowed, forcing the lump in her throat down.

Her father walked up before her and placed his big hands on her shoulders. He looked at her with eyes she couldn't quite recognize.

"You're not running away from here."

The blonde tensed. Had he read her mind? She could feel a blush of embarrassment creeping up on her cheeks. Why? Why had she no courage? Didn't she love her family? She dared to look up into her fathers eyes for a split second, only to regret her decision greatly. He looked disappointed, and a hint of anger was visible on his features. She forced herself to swallow once again.

"I will stay father. This is my home."

The answer seemed to satisfy him as he let go of her shoulders.

"You may leave. I'll be expecting your presence in the main hall. The people need us more than ever. You'll understand soon enough the full weight of that statement."

Neriah gasped.

"My lady, if what you said is true, then you have to hide!" The red-haired woman exclaimed.

"Despite your fathers word, I cannot allow you to get hurt. You are more than just a noble to me, I consider you a friend!" The females words echoed through the empty hallway.

Elisha sighed and hugged her servant.

"I will be fine, I can assure you that." The blonde was surprised that she managed to sound so calm. Inside, she was still having thoughts consisting only of escaping, and taking Neriah with her. It was selfish and ugly thoughts - but then again, fear is an ugly feeling.

She took a deep breath. She was probably overreacting. Her father hadn't even been certain that they were coming for them. Sure, the facts all pointed in that direction, but perhaps they didn't know where to look? There was always a chance. And even if they did find the church, perhaps they were reasonable? Yeah, they could definitely be reasonable men. Reasonable men who killed over 50 people. Elisha exhaled a shaky breath. Neriah didn't miss it. She frowned anxiously at her superior.

"Neriah."

The woman turned her green eyes to Elisha.

"I'm going to the main hall. The mayor will be arriving at any moment, and my father is expecting me."

The blonde looked to the ground and bit her lip.

"I want you to stay in your room with the door locked. Please stay as quiet as possible."

Neriah looked like she was about to object, but held back when she met Elisha's eyes.

"I will be fine. Everyone will be fine." She said, clenching her fist.

And with that, she turned her back to Neriah.

The main hall was was the only room in the whole church which was never empty. There was always someone to heal, and if people weren't getting healed, they were praying against the small shrine at the center of the room. The whole church was built out of dark bricks, making all the rooms faintly lit. The main hall however, was the only room with painted bricks. The walls were white, but the floor was still the same color as the rest of the church. This room, was where Elisha used spend hours as a child, doing nothing but observe the people walking around, minding their own business. It was calming, the sound of something happening. She used to despise the echoes and silence, so the main hall had been her escape in many situations. It was funny just how much that had changed in the years that had passed.

As the blonde made her way to the room, she met up with her father and the elders. They walked in a slow pace together, not saying anything. The ceremony usually consisted of a short prayer of the elders, a presentation of Elisha and her father, then the healing would begin. This time, it seemed like the massacre in Rigware had taken it's toll. There would be no ceremony to begin with. As soon as Elisha, her father and the elders entered the room, Elisha understood why the presentation had been canceled. There was no time to waste. The blonde girl had never seen so many people in the church before. People were moaning, crying, screaming in pain, blood was dripping, staining the walls and the floor.

It was hell.

All the healing sessions before had seemed holy in Elishas eyes. It had seemed like she, along with the other skilled healers had committed nothing less than miracles, but now, nothing seemed holy. There was no time to receive appreciation from the healed victims before they were shoved out of the way to make way for the next harmed person. The blonde barely noticed she was healing the mayor of all people before he too was shoved out of the way. She had been preparing herself to be able to converse with the man for almost three hours, she had been exited, nervous, that for the first time, she would deal with such an important man.

She barely even saw his face.

The blonde had no time to let her thoughts linger on a man who was now healed. A woman with brown fuzzy hair managed the tackle her way through the crowd and up to Elisha. At first, it seemed as if the woman was selfishly trying push back others in need to put her own safety first. That was until Elisha noticed the young boy she was dragging along. The woman pushed the boy up in front of Elisha, then disappeared in the sea of people.

The young woman looked down at the little boy. He had a deep cut running down his torso, it was amazing that he even had the energy to stand, he must have lost a lot of blood. She knelt before him and placed her hands at his chest. A familiar blue light enveloped the wound, and it slowly started to heal. For the first time today, she had time to talk with the patient.

"How are you feeling?" She asked softly, offering him a small smile despite the chaos around them.

"I-I'm tired." The boy said weakly. She had failed to notice it before, but standing so close to him, she could now see how unnaturally pale he was. The dark circles under his eyes made him look like a corpse. His brown messy hair was stained with blood, but she saw no wound, so it was most likely not his own.

"I didn't think I'd survive when the demon slashed me." The boy muttered. Elishas eyes widened.

"Demon?"

"The men who attacked my town..." She could see his eyes water up.

"They weren't human!" The tears fell freely on his cheeks. His wound was all closed up by now, and Elisha had no time to ask any further question before another patient replaced the little boy.

She kept healing wounds mindlessly, her thoughts drifting. Whoever attacked Rigware truly must have been demons. Who in their right mind would attack innocent people, let alone children? Elisha took a deep breath as her eyes widened. Her father had said that the people had refused to tell them the location of the church, but their whereabouts weren't exactly a secret. They _would _find them at some point. Her eyes scanned the room for the father and the elders. They were standing at the opposite side of the room. Needless to say, they had their hand full.

After an hour of constant healing, the people with minor injuries had all left the building, leaving only the seriously wounded left. Elisha had healed all the farmers while the elders and her father had taken care of the ninjas who had been close to death. The shouting had stopped, what remained was dull moans from the people clinging on to their lives.

Elisha walked over to the old woman Gilga who was currently healing a woman with a leg missing.

"Is there anything I can help with?" She asked carefully.

The old woman looked her way for just a split second.

"Don't be ridiculous! You look more drained than your father on a busy day! Go sit down for a while, then assist your father."

Elisha frowned.

"With all due respect, Gilga, I'm not tired, and there are still injured people here who only have closed wounds that haven't been properly healed yet."

The old woman sneered.

"What good will you do if you fall unconscious? Now sit down! You may be the daughter of the high priest, but that does not make you entitled to make any decisions of importance!"

Elisha grit her teeth and clenched her fists. People were hurt, dying, and the only thing the elders could think of was the level of authority Elisha held. They knew very well that she wouldn't faint from healing a little more. As much as she wanted to lash out, she held it back. Instead of wasting her energy on fighting a stubborn old lady, she walked over to one of the benches and sat down.

Her eyes fell on the elders. The blonde had to suppress a scowl as she watched them. It was painfully obvious that the well-being of the people didn't matter to them as much as they claimed. What mattered was the image they were portraying of themselves. They wanted to be looked at like the very God they worshiped. Elisha wiped a thin layer of sweat off her forehead. Soon all the victims would be fully healed and be able to go back to Rigware.

She frowned. A nagging feeling that something was wrong kept pinching her in the back every time she tried to relax. The question that had been on her mind since the talk with her father was still floating around in her head. Why had the two men killed and harmed so many innocent people? There had to be a reason. Perhaps they had tried scaring the people into telling them the location of the church? But there was so much that didn't make any sense. They would probably have gotten an answer if they didn't appear to be hostile.

Elisha's eyes widened.

Could it be that.. They had deliberately left some of the villagers alive so they could follow them directly to the church?

"My lady, excuse me."

Elisha's eyes focused on the familiar person in front of her. She let out gasp.

"Neriah! What are you doing here? I told you to hide in your room! What if the attackers come here?" The blonde exclaimed. So much for acting calm around her friend. She didn't want to tell her that they were most likely in direct danger, but it was a difficult subject to avoid. The red-haired woman looked slightly ashamed of her disobedience.

"My deepest apologies, but some of the other servants told me about the amount of injured villagers today, and I thought that you might need something to drink. I can only imagine the fatigue you must be feeling after healing so many." She said with a slight bow.

Elisha let out a sigh. It was so typical of her trustworthy friend to care for her like this.

"It's okey, don't apologize. I'm fine, I've only healed flesh wounds and minor cuts, nothing out of the ordinary, just a bigger amount of patients, that's all. " She said while giving her servant a tired smile.

Neriah still kept a worried look.

"Please, my lady, I would calm my nerves if you had something to drink before you continue with your healing."

Elisha let out a small sigh.

"I will, thank you for bringing it here. Have my father and the elders had something?" She asked as she starting pouring herself a cup of water.

"I believe so, if they haven't declined the refreshments. Arilla and Ophelia is also here to provide necessities for the rest of the healers."

Elisha nodded and gulped down the water. She wasn't really thirsty, but if it calmed Neriah she wasn't going to struggle. She placed the empty cup beside her and looked at her servant as she stood up.

"Neriah, please go back to yo-"

"AHHH FUCK, That was the longest fucking corridor I've ever had to walk through in my entire life."

Elishas eyes widened as she turned around. The booming voice, coming from behind her didn't sound familiar at all. And just what kind of person would use such a vulgar vocabulary in a church of all places? The room was dead silent except for the echoes of footsteps coming from the dark entrance. Her eyes drifted to where her father and the elders stood. They looked tense as their eyes focused on the entrance as well as the rest of the people.

Out of the shadows, two figures stepped out. One was wearing a mask that covered his whole face. Elisha faintly noted that his eyes looked strange from afar. The other man wore a bored expression. He had the most curios hair color she had seen on such a young man. Pure white, like he was an old man, and yet his features clearly indicated that he was not much older than Elisha herself. But his hair color was not what caught her attention the most. A huge scythe was hanging on his back in a deadly red color, making him look like a reaper. Both men were dressed in similar black cloaks with red clouds.

They both stopped and looked at the elders.

"Where's the keepers of the Deus bloodline?" The taller of the two men asked. He had an incredibly dark voice.

Elisha gasped. This had to be them. The attackers of Rigware. She shot her servant a worried look, trying to mentally order her to go back to her room.

Her father stepped towards the two men. No trace of fear on his face what so ever.

"My name is Vincent. I am the main keeper of the Deus bloodline. How can I help you?" He asked, sounding polite. Apparently her father was choosing the wise decision of trying to approach the men in a civilized manner. The elders were keeping a face of fear, disgust and confusion.

The white haired man snorted.

"Kakuzu, this one is too old. He'll probably die before we even have a chance to use him."

At that comment, everybody in the room was on their guard.

"Excuse me sir, but would you mind explaining what all this is about?"

Elisha eyed her father worriedly.

"The leader of Akatsuki has requested that we bring a person with the Deus bloodline back to our base. " That masked man said shortly.

Elisha gasped. Akatsuki? The organization consisting of S-ranked criminals? She had heard of them once or twice by some of the servants.

The white haired men took a couple of steps forward and pointed his scythe at Elisha's father.

"Well we're not fuckin' takin' you! We don't have any use of an old goat!" He exclaimed harshly. Elisha flinched at his aggressive behavior.

"I know for a fact that there should be at least one heir." The masked man said, stepping forward to stand next to the other man.

"Where is he?"

His dark voice sent shivers down Elisha's spine. She had to focus so that her legs wouldn't start shaking. They were talking about _her. _

Her father remained quiet, only shooting the intruders a stare.

The tall masked man sighed deeply.

"Very well then." He said as he pointed his hand towards the man before him.

Suddenly, the hand shot from his body, aiming directly at Elisha's father. The force of the impact sent the old man tumbling to the floor.

Elisha couldn't believe her eyes. Her stare traveled from the arm of the mysterious man to her father who was lying on the ground, trying to claw the hand gripping his throat. The threads connecting the strangers body parts slowly started to pull her father across the floor towards the two men. She could feel herself gaping at the sight. These two truly weren't human.

The masked man who had previously been referred to as Kakuzu, was by now holding Elisha's father above himself, slowly chocking him to death. The elders started shouting in panic, screaming at the men.

The white haired man rolled his eyes. Faster than the blonde could register, his scythe had found it's way to the elders, successfully decapitating one of the three. This did nothing but spread more panic. The patients who had previously been half-asleep was now shouting and crying. The surviving elders were screeching and trying to crawl away from the demon before them. Elisha was frozen in place. Suddenly, she felt a shaky hand grab a hold of her arm.

"My lady, you have to hide!" Neriah whispered hysterically in her superiors ear.

"Hidan, stop that. " Kakuzu muttered, sounding annoyed. He then turned his attention back the man in his hand.

"I'm only going to ask you one last time." The man locked eyes with the man before him.

"Where. Is. The. Heir?" His voice was sounding downright dangerous now.

Elisha watched as her father opened his mouth, trying to choke out a sentence.

"N-No matter what you do to me, I'll never let the heir of the Deus bloodline fall into the hands of Akatsuki!" He forced the sentence out between gasps.

Kakuzu's eyes bored into him.

"Then I will proceed to do whatever it takes for you to change your mind." He said darkly. And with that, his hands squeezed the neck of Elisha's father. His body was writhing, twisting and turning, trying desperately to get away from the masked intruder. His chocked gasps reached the blondes ears. She could feel tears starting to gather around her eyes. She was a coward, she knew that already, but she couldn't let these people kill her father. She wouldn't let them.

"STOP IT!"

Her hysterical scream echoed through the church, successfully catching the the two men's attention. They both turned their head to look at the young woman, standing at the side of the room.

"I'm the heir of the Deus bloodline, so please release my father!" She looked straight into the eyes of the masked man. She had failed to notice it before, but his eyes were like none she had ever seen. Green and red dead eyes had her locked in place.

For a while nothing happened. The only sound to be heard was her fathers choking gasps. Then all of the sudden without warning, Kakuzu dropped him rather harshly to the ground, like he was nothing but trash now that he had the information he needed.

Elisha gulped. It wasn't until The masked man started walking towards her that she realized just what was going to happen. She was about to be kidnapped.

"Elisha!"

The blonde turned to face her servant. Neriah was looking at her with pleading eyes.

"I'm sorry my friend, but I think this is where we say goodbye."

Her voice was shaking, but she did her best to muster up one last smile to her life long companion. She inhaled sharply when a heavy hand was placed on her shoulder, turning her around by force. She came face to face with the man who just a second ago, almost choked the life out of her father. He was looking at her so intently that she had to shift her eyes downward.

"Show me."

"Huh?" she asked dumbly.

Without another word, the man started pushing her towards his partner who was now looking at them with a little interest.

"Hidan."

"Yeaaahh, I'm on it."

The one named Hidan suddenly swung his scythe at one of the surviving elders. The blade slashed across the old females back, causing her to scream in fear. Elisha's eyes widened.

"Heal her."

She wasted no time. The blonde practically ran up the older lady, then fell to her knees next to her. Her hands started glowing, and she gently pressed them to the oozing wound. Within seconds, the wound was closed up. She silently thanked God that the wound wasn't very deep.

"That's some seriously freaky shit."

The young woman jumped, feeling startled. Hidan was standing just behind her, looking at her with curios eyes. For a second, she was mildly fascinated by unusual eye color. Magenta.

"Elisha.."

The blonde looked back to the old woman. She was looking at her, eyes filled with anger.

"You cannot go with these demons! Choose death before dishonor!" She croaked.

Before Elisha could say anything, the blood red scythe once again swung towards the old lady, this time impaling her lungs. The woman coughed up blood while cursing under her breath.

"Shut your face, old hag. Haven't you lived long enough?"

The scythe retreated, swooshing by Elisha's right shoulder. She couldn't hold back a gasp when some of the blood stained her face.

"Get up girl! We're leaving!" Hidan said, sounding bored.

She would have listened to him, but her legs were frozen. She was terrified. These men, they were nothing but bad company. They would probably lead her to her death.

"Oi! Are you listening to me?"

Barely. That's what she wanted to say, but the words didn't seem to come out. A strong hand gripped the fabric of the back of her dress, pulling her to her feet. Suddenly, her feet were dangling in the air and the face of Hidan was all she could see.

"Snap out of it, I don't feel like carrying you around unless your legs are missing."

He sounded so carefree, the way he said it. Elisha blinked. She was being held by the collar by a man who just killed one of the elders. Her eyes widened.

"Put me down!" She screeched as she tried to claw at his arm.

Hidan rolled his eyes and dropped her without any complaints. The girl stumbled but managed to land on her feet.

"We're going." Kakuzu's voice boomed through the church. Despite the fact that he wasn't talking very loud, his voice seemed to pierce through everyone's ears without any problem.

Hidan started to walk towards the exit, Kakuzu on the other hand, was looking at Elisha, waiting for her to move. She took a shaky breath and forced her legs to advance forward. At that point, it felt like she was seeing everything in slowmotion. The face of her father, looking at her with tears running down his face. Neriah, looking just about ready fall into pieces at any given moment. The last surviving elder, Gilga, looking at her with such deep disgust that the blonde almost cringed. And then she was standing beside both of the men. Their forms towering over her like something from a horror tale.

For the first time in her life, she was going to walk through the only hallway that had remained untouched by her curiosity. She had always imagined this moment differently. The first time she was to see the outside world was along with two S-ranked criminals.

The long corridor seemed to never end. The sound of footsteps echoed through the hallway. As she saw the light at the end of the tunnel, all Elisha could think of, was how much she had wanted Neriah next to her, and her father. A single tear escaped, sliding down her chin. She wiped it away quickly, determined not to let these men see her cry, ever.

The light grew brighter, and the sound of rain replaced the empty echoes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Paradise**

_Chapter 2: Five days of rain_

"You've got to be fuckin' kidding me." Hidan snarled.

The sky was practically vomiting water when the three reached the end of the tunnel. Elisha looked up at the clouds, her eyes wide with wonder. So this was how the weather looked like when it was _bad_. Who would have guessed that bad weather was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Finally letting her eyes drop back to the ground, she could see huge trees with big, green crowns. The leaves had a hard time staying attached to the branches when the wind whipped mercilessly, causing the small green dots to swirl around in mid-air. She had never seen such a warm shade of green. She took a deep breath, taking in all the different scents. The smell of rain on nature made all her high-quality perfumes seem like garbage. If she had known of this scent before, her plans on escaping would most likely had been carried out. The discovery of the new world almost made her forget about her violent company.

"I'm not walking all day in this weather, forget it! It's bad enough that we had to enter the nest of a bunch of fuckin' atheists!"

Elisha frowned. Was he talking about the church? Wasn't it painfully obvious that they weren't atheists? She didn't understand this man.

"Shut your mouth." Kakuzu grumbled shortly.

**oooOOOooo**

The trio had only been walking for an hour before the complaints started.

"We're fucking drenched already."

"You truly are the master of observation." Kakuzu growled.

Hidan sneered and looked at the girl walking a few steps behind them.

"She's gonna die walking around in those clothes." He said giving her a bored look, like they were talking about nothing special.

Elisha glanced at the white haired man in front of her through her soaked bangs. Surely they would also die from hypothermia in this weather. Their clothes were just as wet as hers, so why did he only bother using her well-being as an excuse?

"There's an inn located nearby." Kakuzu grumbled. He suddenly turned around and leaned down so he could look the blonde in her eyes. Her feet came to a sudden halt as a finger was shoved in her face.

"You better pray to whatever god you worship that it's not expensive."

Elisha gulped. Those green angry eyes sure could rip away anyone's spine. Hidan scoffed.

"Praying to anyone other than Jashin-sama won't help either way. "

The blonde suddenly looked curios.

"Who's Jashin?" She couldn't stop her mouth from forming the words despite her fear of both the men. Kakuzu groaned audibly. Hidan however, raised his brows before his mouth pulled into a big grin.

The next few minutes walking to the inn, was spent listening to Hidan's almost hysterical description of Jashinism. Elisha gaped at more than one occasion. Her eyes conveyed nothing but shock at each statement from the self-claimed priest. Kakuzu didn't look amused at all. By the time they reached their temporary residence, the blonde was seriously questioning the mental stability of Hidan.

The inn didn't look fancy by any means, but definitely bearable. Kakuzu wordlessly took the lead and walked inside. Hidan steered Elisha to the corner of the room while Kakuzu talked to the innkeeper. She took the time to scan the building from the inside. The color was very similar to the one she had grown up with at the church. The brown color didn't match up entirely seeing as this building was completely built out of planks rather than bricks. The blonde felt a hint of sadness starting to bubble up. She couldn't help but to feel a little pathetic to get saddened by the color of a building.

"You surely can't expect me to lower the price that much!" The innkeeper exclaimed.

Hidan whistled and glanced at Elisha.

"You're about to witness just about how scary Kakuzu can get." He said in a low voice.

The blonde blinked an looked back to the innkeeper. She heard Kakuzu mumble something that didn't quite reach her ears, but the look on the innkeepers face gave her a pretty good idea of just what they were discussing.

After a few minutes, it seemed like the two men had come to a conclusion. The poor owner rubbed his templates and huffed in annoyance. Kakuzu on the other hand looked thoroughly content. He took a few steps towards Hidan and Elisha.

"We're staying here until the rain ease up."

Hidan snorted.

"And just how expensive is this going to be?"

Elisha could swear she saw the hint of a smile beneath his mask.

"It's free."

Hidan gave him an impressed look while Elisha let out a breath of relief. All of the sudden, the blonde let out an abrupt sneeze. Hidan's eyes widened and a look of irritation crossed his features.

"Oh hell no woman! You're not getting sick already!"

Elisha didn't quite know how to communicate with these kind of people yet. They were still terrifying in her eyes.

"I-it was just a sneeze!" She said, trying to calm him down. It didn't seem to work.

"That's how it always starts! If you're expecting us to take care of you-"

"I'm not going to get sick!" the blonde exclaimed, a frown visible on her face.

"It's because you're wearing those wet clothes!" He kept going as if he didn't hear her.

"Seriously, just when you think women can't get more annoying-"

"It was just a sneeze!" She practically shouted at him.

This time he stopped talking. He gave her a skeptical look.

"Are you shouting at me?"

She looked dumbfounded. Just what had she been thinking? This guy was a short-tempered murderer and she had actually been stupid enough to temporarily forget about it the same day she was kidnapped. She felt like slapping herself in the face.

"I-I'm sorry Hidan-san, I didn't mean to raise my voice like that." she mumbled, looking anywhere but at his eyes.

"Idiots." Kakuzu grumbled as he walked towards their rented room.

Hidan still looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Then she sneezed again.

"I FUCKIN' KNEW IT!"

She flinched when he suddenly grabbed her shoulders and started to shove her in the direction Kakuzu had gone to.

"This place better have some spare clothes." Hidan grumbled more to himself than to Elisha.

After a short walk through the shabby corridor, Hidan stopped in front of a door with the number 18. He pulled the door open and pushed the blonde in. She almost stumbled on her own feet but managed to stay upright.

"Sit your ass down and don't move, I'm gonna look for something dry to wear. " And with that, he slammed the door shut. Elisha blinked, not quite sure what to make out of this situation. She hadn't really had any time to be depressed about the turn of events, but now when the silence kicked in, she could feel her body becoming increasingly heavier.

"Don't make that pathetic face. It's unsightly."

She gasped and turned to the voice. Kakuzu was sitting in the middle of the room against a small table, holding a bundle of money in his hands. She once again felt stupid for forgetting about the masked ninja in such a short span of time.

"Sit."

Having no intentions of arguing, she walked up to the table with small steps. She hesitated for only second before sitting down. Kakuzu eyed her before resuming his activities. Assuming that he had no intentions of chit-chatting, Elisha took the moment to take in the room. It was fairly big for such a run-down place, and not to mention...nice. There wasn't much to complain about. A medium-sized window was placed on the left wall, giving her a nice view of the current storm. Her eyes drew to the man in front of her. His cloak was laying next to him, and he was left wearing only a black tank top with matching pants. Scars were covering his arms, but they didn't look like the scars she were used to see. Suddenly, a loud booming sound along with a bright light shining through the window made Elisha jump on her cushion.

"What was that?" She asked, failing to act calm.

"What do you think?" Kakuzu mumbled with a scowl.

These guys were experts in making her feel like an idiot.

"I-I don't know..." She mumbled.

Kakuzu gave her a peculiar look, like he was considering if she was being serious.

"It's just thunder."

She blinked. Oh right, that sounded reasonable. Thunder was supposedly a common thing when storms occurred. The masked ninja kept glancing at her. He probably thought she was an idiot. She sure felt like one.

"This is your first time leaving the church."

It wasn't a question. Elisha felt embarrassment for reasons she couldn't quite figure out.

"Y-yes. How did you know?" She asked, genuinely curios.

Kakuzu placed a pile of money on the table before picking up another bundle from a small bag.

"You're pale. You act confused at common events, and you looked disturbingly fascinated by the rain when we left the tunnel."

So he had noticed her behavior at the very beginning. Her lips pressed together in a thin line.

The door slammed open, revealing Hidan carrying a pack of spare clothes.

"I should fuckin' kill the manager before we leave this place, seriously." His eyes locked on to Elisha.

"And you should take a hot shower!" He exclaimed, pointing at her.

"W-what?" She sputtered, her cheeks burning just a little bit.

"I'm serious! I fuckin' refuse to deal with you if you get sick!"

Hidan walked over to the blonde and pulled her up from her sitting stance. He shoved the clothes he was holding in her face, then pushed her over to the bathroom door. This guy was beyond impatient.

"Don't use all the hot water!" He said as he shoved her in, closing the door behind her.

Elisha just stood there for a moment. Hidan sure was fast to make things happen. Her head finally moved, looking around the bathroom. The blonde had to squint her eyes momentarily. The white tile along with the annoyingly effective lamp blinded her after having spent her time in dim light all day. There was no oversized tub like the one she had used, in fact, there was no tub at all. There was a toilet and a weird looking sink in the corner of the small room. At the other side, there was a strange device sticking out from the wall with two levers just below it. She didn't dare to ask just how she was going to clean herself up. She had felt stupid enough for today. Assuming by the looks of the gadget, this was what she was supposed to use. Elisha huffed and blew her bangs out of her face. She swiftly began to strip out of her soaked dress. After tossing it aside, she silently strode over to the strange device. Elisha inspected the levers, trying to find anything to help her out, but of course there was no such thing as a hint anywhere to be found. Finally feeling the effect of having no clothes, she didn't even try to hold back a shiver. She bit her lip and randomly chose the right lever. Big mistake.

Cold water seeped through the device, perfectly aimed towards her already shivering torso. She let out a loud squeek and reflexively grabbed the other lever. This time she got it right. It felt heavenly. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the tile. She silently wished that time could freeze for just a moment. The thoughts of having to face Hidan and Kakuzu soon enough made her frown. What was it that they had said in the church? The leader of Akatsuki wanted her? She didn't really understand the whole meaning of that statement, and she wasn't too keen on finding out. The thoughts of trying to escape had obviously passed through her mind also, but her gut was telling her that these men wouldn't allow that to happen, and even if they did, she would probably end up putting her friends and family in danger. Her father still had the bloodline, and if Elisha didn't follow the Akatsuki, they would most likely go back to force her father to fill her place. It was an hopeless situation indeed.

She blinked. Supposedly she could just go along with all that was happening around her, and accept it, embrace it. But how could she possibly? Her moral high-ground was constantly reminding her of what kind of people she was around. They were murderers. One of them had even sliced an innocent child. Could she really get used to people like that? Was there a shred of humanity left in these people? A loud bang on the door almost made her jump out of her skin.

"You've been in here long enough! Either be out in a minute, or I'm coming in!"

Despite being behind a door, Hidan's voice reached her ears loud and clear. Her eyes widened and suddenly, she was in a hurry. Feeling relaxed only lasted about four minutes. Relieved by the fact that there were towels to use, she hurriedly dried off and held up the clothes Hidan had brought. It was nothing special, and oversized black t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. It would do. She wasn't too fond of dresses anyway.

The blonde had just barely finished dressing when the door slammed open. She visibly jumped and gasped, feeling oddly self conscious despite being fully clothed. The idea of not making it in time was enough to let a blush crawl up her cheeks. Her chock only lasted a second. She quickly turned towards the door, ready to sprint out, but she wasn't prepared to what met her eyes.

Hidan was standing there. Shirtless.

To any other person, it probably wouldn't have made a difference. But seeing as the young blonde had never seen so much skin of the opposite sex, embarrassment flooded her head. Her cheeks burned bright red, her mouth fell open and she quickly covered her eyes with her hands.

"Why aren't you wearing a shirt?" Her voice was so high-pitched that she didn't even recognize it in her own ears. Hidan's reaction just made her want to crawl up somewhere and die. He laughed.

"Confirmed virgin!" He said between fits of laughter.

This day couldn't possibly get any worse.

"Stop laughing. The sound is killing me."

The rough voice of Kakuzu entered her ears and she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders lead her out of the bathroom. She brushed briefly against against Hidan's arm when she passed him, her hands still covering her eyes. She could almost _feel _his stupid grin.

"Wipe that goddamn smile of your face." Kakuzu growled.

Who would have guessed.

The door slammed shut and Elisha gingerly lowered her hands. She met the annoyed stare of the masked ninja and couldn't help but to swallow thickly.

"You're making it too damn easy for him." He said, giving her a glare.

The blonde looked at her feet.

"S-sorry."

He scoffed and walked over to the table, lifting it aside like it weighted nothing. Standing in the corner of the room, was a brown coffin. Kakuzu opened it, then pulled out three mattresses along with some blankets and pillows and placed them on the floor. Wordlessly, Elisha helped make the beds. She didn't want to appear to be completely useless.

Everything was prepared in no time. Kakuzu silently strode over to the bed furthest to the left wall and and sat down. Elisha looked at the remaining beds. She quickly decided to use the bed in the middle, not wanting to openly distance herself from the masked ninja. The though of sleeping next to Hidan didn't sit her well, but bizarrely enough, having Kakuzu close by gave her a sense of protection. She knew he probably wasn't trustworthy enough for her to think of him that way, but he had been kind enough to get her out of the bathroom.

'Kind' presumably wasn't the right choice of words. The lesser evil?

Lying down on the mattress, she turned her back to Kakuzu and closed her eyes. Finally feeling the effect of an eventful day, she could feel sleep overcoming her.

**oooOOOooo**

A loud booming noise woke Elisha from her sleep. She groaned, trying ignore the audible thunder and water drops smattering against the window. The blonde frowned. She didn't feel like opening her eyes. Her body was tense from lying on the uncomfortable mattress, and it felt like she had only slept for a few hours. Squinting her eyes open, she noticed just how dark the room was, giving her the impression that it was either late at night, or early in the morning. Her eyes drifted to Kakuzu's bed, only to have her fully awake. He wasn't there.

She sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, looking to the other bed next to her. It seemed like Hidan was still here. She had to stifle a giggle when she noticed just how ridiculous he looked when he was in deep sleep. His arms and legs were all sprawled out, his pillow was nowhere to be found, and he was sleeping with his mouth wide open. She was surprised to notice that he didn't snore. Perhaps a habit from being a ninja. She caught herself smiling at the sight. It was a nice feeling. She hadn't expected such a gesture from herself for a good while. In fact, a part of her brain had tried convincing her that she would never smile again. He certainly didn't look anything like a demon when he was asleep. He actually looked pretty nice. Elisha blinked, then scowled. She wouldn't play herself by trying to view him like nothing but a monster.

Before she could fall too deep into her thoughts, the door opened up. Kakuzu was carrying a tray of food in one hand, a book in the other.

"Hold this." He grumbled and handed the tray to Elisha. Before she could ask what he was doing, he carried the small table back to it's former position.

**oooOOOooo**

Elisha sighed. She wasn't sure just how long Kakuzu was going to be away, but now she wished she asked.

They had eaten breakfast earlier in silence, much to her expectations. Something she hadn't expected though, was that the masked ninja hadn't bothered to hide his face from her when they had shared the meal. The blonde had always figured ninjas used their masks to hide their identity, but Kakuzu didn't seem to care about that. She had gotten quite the chock when she first saw his face, but luckily she had also managed to hide her surprise. Supposedly, he used his mask because he was tired of people staring at him

The man had stitches running across his face, making it look like his head was two separate parts. Oddly enough, it kind of suited him.

After breakfast, he had told her shortly that he was going out to catch a nearby bounty. Elisha hadn't dared to ask any questions, so she only given him a nod.

"Don't do anything stupid." And with that, he left.

It felt like hours had passed since the masked man had left the building, and she was seriously starting to feel restless. Hidan was still sleeping, and she didn't really feel like waking him up. She'd rather feel bored than scared to death by his kind of entertainment. The blonde groaned inwardly when she noticed out of the corner of her eye how his sleeping form was starting to toss and turn, a clear sign that he was on the brink of waking up. The thunder struck once again, causing the man to groan.

"Fuckin' weather.." He grumbled as he dragged his hand through his white hair. He turned his still sleepy eyes to the blonde, sitting curled up in the corner of the room.

"Where's Kakuzu?"

Elisha turned towards him.

"He said he was going to catch a bounty nearby."

Hidan's face took on a look of annoyance.

"Tsh, typical."

He rose to his feet and stretched with a yawn. Why couldn't this guy just wear a shirt like normal people? Elisha forced her blush away as she turned her eyes to the floor. He admittedly looked nice, but she didn't feel any type of attraction for the man. She just felt out of place and embarrassed whenever the two were around her. She had feeling that all the common courtesy she had been raised with didn't work well with these guys, so she just silently hoped that they would ignore her as much as possible.

"Get up girly! We're going to the bar."

Her eyes widened.

"B-but it's so early! And I'm not allowed to drink."

Hidan gave her an unimpressed look.

"Just how old are you?"

"I'm 18." She mumbled.

"Then what's the damn problem?"

Her religion was the problem, but she wasn't sure if Hidan was someone she wanted to discuss religion with, especially not hers.

"I'm... Uhm... Allergic."

Smooth.

Hidan's eye twitched.

"If you're gonna lie then put some effort in it."

She bit her lip and looked away. Hidan let out a frustrated sigh as he pulled his cloak on.

"Let's do it like this then."

Elisha glanced at him. His sudden confident look was making her feel like something bad was going down.

"You either come with me, or I throw you out the window. How does that sound?"

**oooOOOooo**

Hidan sneered. The bar was just as run down as the rest of the house. He looked behind him to make sure the girl was still following him. Why she was so insistent at not going was beyond him. What was she going to do anyway, sit in the corner of the room all day? Seemed like a good idea to drink away the time in his head.

"Old man, bring us some saké." He said casually to the bartender.

Grabbing the nearest table, he looked over to the blonde and silently urged her to sit down. She caught on and sat down on the chair to the opposite side of him. The drinks were served in no time, and the old man was cool enough to leave the entire bottle by their table. He poured himself a cup and then proceeded to fill one up to the girl. He had to hold back a smirk when he saw just how hesitant she looked. Her bright blue eyes were glancing around nervously while her hands constantly fidgeted at the hem of her shirt. Her long, blonde, messy hair doing a pretty good job hiding her from the world. A little drinking would do her good. Sweeping his drink in one go, he breathed out a pleased sigh. The taste along with the small burning sensation was just the thing he needed. He noticed how the blonde hadn't even touched the cup.

"It's not poisoned." He said, raising an eyebrow.

He noticed how she bit her lip, probably wanting nothing more but to sink down the floor, but he wasn't having any of that. If he and the rest of the Akatsuki was stuck with this woman, he'd damn well make sure she wouldn't be such an eyesore. Her behavior was understandable, but that didn't mean he was going to tolerate it.

"Drink it, or I'll force it down your throat." He said with a smile.

His smile widened when he saw her swallow thickly. She gave her cup of saké a second glance and gently picked up, cautiously sniffing the liquid. She copied his earlier movements, and drank it all in one go, her eyes screwing shut. Hidan couldn't hold back his laughter when she wrinkled her nose and coughed.

"That wasn't so bad, now was it?"

She squinted at him and held her hand in front of her mouth.

"It tastes horrible." She said, her voice sounding a little strained.

"It'll taste better if you drink some more." He said laughing.

She frowned deeply.

"Don't give me that look! Alright, let's do it like this, we're gonna play a game..."

The blonde gave him a curios look and he mentally laughed. He was gonna have fun with this.

"Every time you drink a cup, you get to ask me a personal question, and vice versa, got it?"

She looked like she was about to object, but something stopped her, he wasn't quite sure what, but he didn't really care to find out. Before she could change her mind, he gulped down a cup. He grinned at her when her eyes widened.

"Alright... what should I ask...?" He said, drawing out the words. He snapped his fingers.

"I'm pretty sure I already know the answer, but you're a virgin, right?" He said, trying to pull her strings, and damn, it worked a little too well. Her face flushed and she looked away before nodding slightly.

"Tsh, it was a little too obvious, I should've asked something else." He muttered, faking his disappointment.

Hidan had met many girls just like this one. They all seemed innocent, but they were all ridiculously wild if they just had the right person to pull it out of them. Hell, he was crazy enough for an army of people, and apparently, that was all they needed to lose control. He had to admit though, the blonde before him was a little more extreme than most shy girls he met. Hidan gulped down another drink, not waiting for Elisha to start drinking.

"So... Have you ever kissed someone?"

She looked away once again, her cheeks still bright red as she muttered a quick 'no'. The jashinist held back a smile. Why was it so much fun to embarrass women? To his surprise, she gulped down a second cup of saké before he had the chance to rustle her feathers again.

"Uhm... What's your favorite color?"

He snorted.

"Red."

Hidan drank another cup.

"How often do you masturbate?"

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head as her cheeks turned into the brightest red he'd ever seen.

"I-I don't." She almost whispered as she looked down at her hands.

"What? Seriously? You're an 18 year old virgin and you've never even masturbated?" He said it loudly on purpose, making the girl look around her to make sure no one was listening. She suddenly gulped down another cup and made a grimace as if she'd just tasted the most sour thing on the planet, then gave him annoyed frown. He smirked. Trying to change the subject?

"Where are you from?"

Another innocent question.

"Yugakure."

He drank another cup.

"Have you ever seen a man naked?"

This time she didn't blush like he expected her to. She _did_ turn a little red, but not very noticeable. Instead, she pouted.

"I don't like this game." He heard her mutter.

Her words only caused him to grin.

"That doesn't answer my question."

After staring at him with a frown for a few seconds, she let out sigh.

"I've seen pictures in books. We we're mostly separated from the opposite sex when I lived in the church."

The saké was most likely starting to take it's effect on her, even though she didn't notice. The blonde didn't twitch and fiddle with her clothes, and she actually managed to make eye-contact every now and then. If someone had overheard their conversation, they might have thought that he was trying to get in her pants. That wasn't the case. He was actually surprised himself that he didn't view her in a sexual way despite the fact that she looked pretty damn good.

Hidan gave a short nod to show that he was still listening. Elisha drank another cup and hiccuped.

"Do you enjoy being in Akatsuki?"

The question caught him off-guard. He eyed her for a short moment.

"I don't like it, and I don't dislike it. They give me the opportunities to do what I enjoy the most, but there's also a lot of shit that I'd gladly live without."

Yeah, that explained it well enough. She gave him a look that he couldn't quite figure out.

"What's with that face?" He said, one brow raised.

"It's nothing." She said as she poured herself another cup and drank it in one go. It seemed like she was finally starting to come up with questions she actually wanted to ask.

"Your partner, Kakuzu, do you like him?"

Hidan's mouth fell open.

"Are you calling me a queer, you little shit?" He exclaimed. Her eyes widened and she giggled softly. It was a sound he didn't expect to hear, but he found it to be … pleasant.

"I didn't mean it like that. What I meant is, do you consider him to be your friend?"

He leaned back and huffed.

"Fuck no, that old goat can go die in ditch for all I care."

Her transient smile fell slightly. It almost seemed like she was saddened by the fact that he hated the old man.

"Tsh, your questions are boring."

"And your questions are repeatedly perverse."

Hidan raised a brow. It seemed like she had little attitude once she loosened up. He gave her a crooked grin.

"Women are only interesting in one way."

She frowned at him.

"Perhaps you aren't searching deep enough?"

His grin widened.

"Oh I've been deep, believe me."

There was that blush again. Something he found amusing about her, was that she didn't seem to like him very much, and yet she couldn't hold back her reddening cheeks. She probably hated him if anything, or at least disliked him. It would only be natural after what he and Kakuzu had put her though after all.

**oooOOOooo**

Kakuzu sighed. Just when he thought he'd caught on a lead to find his bounty, it seemed as if someone had been quicker than him to go after the smugglers head. Oh well, there were other bounties to be turned in, and right now, all that really concerned him was to go back to the inn and change into some dry clothes. The rain still poured furiously after almost two days, it was getting tiresome.

Having no clock, he took a guess that it was sometime after dinner. He vaguely wondered if Hidan had remembered to feed the girl, or if he'd been his usual idiot self and gone drinking the moment he woke up. He didn't expect much of his partner, but who knew, maybe he'd be pleasantly surprised today. He scoffed. Oh well, the girl wouldn't starve after just one day.

The masked ninja made his way towards their rented room, when he heard the most annoying voice calling him from the bar. Before he had the chance to walk over there himself, Hidan's figure showed itself in the doorway.

"KAKUZU-CHAAAAAAN!" He wailed.

Why did the fucker had to be immortal?

On a second glance, he noticed a blonde hairy mess on Hidan's right shoulder. For a moment, he feared that the idiot had actually sacrificed her, but her head shifted towards him. Out of all the scenarios he had expected, he had not anticipated Hidan to be drunk beyond reasoning, carrying Elisha piggy-back style down the corridor.

"Idiots."


	4. Chapter 4

**Paradise**

_Chapter 3: Atrocious acts_

Elisha opened her eyes with a groan. Her head was pounding mercilessly from yesterdays activity. She sighed inwardly. She had it coming, it was really careless of her to drink so much her first time, and not to mention with a dangerous impulsive criminal. He _had_ threatened her, but that didn't necessarily mean she had to drink more than one or two cups. That devious bastard had probably planned his every move, strategically baiting her into drinking whenever she felt abashed by his obscene questions. She huffed inwardly, seeing as actually doing it out loud would only cause her head to pound more. Luckily, her memory of their drunken rampage wasn't a haze, but that didn't stop her from feeling uncomfortable in more than one way. It wasn't just that she wanted to avoid Hidan at all costs and failed, but also how she had deliberately broken one of her religious rules. That wasn't even the worst of it. When he told her to jump onto his back to welcome Kakuzu at his arrival, she hadn't hesitated one bit. Obviously the alcohol had clouded her judgment greatly, but that didn't stop her from feeling embarrassed by her behavior. She groaned inwardly for the fifth time as she recalled how she and Hidan had shamelessly spluttered nonsense all night, making Kakuzu almost explode from annoyance.

This morning was bound to be joyful.

She didn't dare to think back of the experience heartily, because as much as she wanted to deny it, she had enjoyed herself. Hidan was remarkably much more nicer when he was drunk, or at least from what she'd seen, she didn't know him well enough to say he was a kind drunken man. He didn't drop even half as many perverted and rude comments, he just kept talking about stuff that didn't make sense at all. She wouldn't say she liked him because of last night, but it was nice to know that there was something to him that wasn't entirely bad, even if it meant him being intoxicated.

Elisha groaned out loud. It hurt, but she couldn't hold it back. Her third day as a captive, and she had already allowed herself to break her moral rules as well as religious, and had _fun_ while doing so. It felt wrong in all sorts of ways, mostly because she didn't even like the men, and she didn't like the situation she was in. The only positive thing so far had been the small trip outside which almost caused her to get sick.

Her tired body forced itself into a sitting position, it almost caused her to throw up, but she held it back by sheer willpower. With squinted eyes, she could see Hidan's sleeping form a few inches away from her. He was unmistakably in a drunken slumber, and by the looks of it, he wasn't very comfortable. Kakuzu was in the middle of the room, counting money. She briefly wondered if that was all he did on his spare time aside from _thinking_ about money. His eyes turned to her, and she could just guess that he was going to give them hell about the other day. It was a wonder that he didn't feel like getting back on them while they we're sleeping. He probably just wanted them to shut up and sit still.

"If you ever repeat yesterdays behavior, I'll break your arms and legs." He muttered quietly.

Her head was hurting too much to focus on fear.

"I'm sorry." She said, jerking slightly at the bolt of pain.

He snorted.

"If Hidan ever forces you to drink again, don't drink so damn much. "

A small sigh escaped her lips, and she nodded softly as an answer. Even though he didn't look at her, she could somehow feel that he noticed. She grew annoyed with her spinning head quickly. Why did people drink anyway? Placing her hands at her templates, she carefully started to test out her healing abilities. Never in her life had she tried stilling a hangover, but she had taken care of headaches and migraine attacks. Within moments, she let out a relieved breath. The pounding and nausea was gone, but she still felt tired and drained. Now the that the pain wasn't overwhelming, she could feel just how thirsty she was. It was a tempting idea to ask for a bottle of water, but the thought of having Kakuzu act like a servant felt like a bad idea. She could always drink from the crane in the bathroom, but on the other hand it could be a good idea to test just how far her leash stretched.

"Kakuzu-san, is it okey if I go to the kitchen for some water?"

He stopped counting and gave her a glare.

"You've got five minutes. Don't talk more than necessary, and if you run you will regret it."

**oooOOOooo**

Elisha closed the door behind her and walked down the shabby corridor. Five minutes was more than enough so rushing wasn't necessary, and she didn't really feel like tripping over her feet due to her dizziness.

She walked into the reception area, and to her surprise, it was empty. Giving the clock on the wall a quick glance, the blonde noticed it was just about time for lunch. Her eyebrow rose slightly. She'd slept for that long? She huffed to herself. The staff was probably eating, but she found it strange that they didn't have anyone by the reception. Discarding the thought before she got lost in her daydreams, she vaguely recalled that the door to the kitchen could be seen in the bar.

She peeped through the door entrance inside the bar and frowned. No bartender. Well, at least that was understandable, there weren't many that many people who drank this early... except for Hidan.

Though the room wasn't empty.

The furthest table away from her was occupied by seven rough-looking guys. They all wore headbands with a symbol she recognized from her fathers piano sheets, and all of them wore nothing but gray and black. She doubted they were musicians, seeing as all of them was ridiculously ripped and wore weapons badly disguised. It probably wasn't a good idea to linger by the entrance while openly staring at them, so she forced her eyes to shift to the kitchen door. Her steps were cautious, not making unnecessary sounds to withdraw attention to herself, but nevertheless their stares seemed to turn her way. She suppressed a chill as she opened the door, not bothering to knock. She just wanted to get away from their eyes. Something about them made her unnerved, and she had a feeling that being the center of attention by such people would only lead to trouble.

Closing the door behind her, she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. The mere presence of those troublemakers was giving her goosebumps. Shaking her head a little, she once again focused on her task.

Just where _was_ everyone? No chefs or any other employees had been seen so far, but in this case it was for the better. The kitchen had a weird smell of it, like something was rotting. Not wanting to ruin her appetite, the blonde decided to ignore the scent. She found bottles of water almost instantly. She grasped two of them, Hidan would probably want some when he woke up, and an apple, then braced herself to walk out in the bar again. She sucked a breath and stepped out expecting to be glared at once again, but now the bar was empty. She wrinkled her eyebrows. She was barely in the kitchen for a minute, but she wasn't about to complain.

She arrived at their familiar door just in time according to her internal clock, though as she stepped inside, Kakuzu gave her a deep scowl.

"You're late."

She bit her lip.

"I'm sorry."

She had since long learned that making excuses didn't help, the elders back in the church had scolded her way too many times for her to repeat that mistake. Kakuzu held her with his eyes for a few seconds, then turned his head back to the money on the table. She took it as a sign that she wasn't in trouble.

Hidan was still lying on the floor, all sprawled out between two mattresses.

Having nothing to do but to drink and eat, she decided to join Kakuzu by the table. She'd rather sit as far away from his possible, but she didn't want to act rude either. She scoffed inwardly. She had every right to be rude, and these guys probably didn't care about manners. Ever since she was a child, she'd been taught to respect everyone, regardless of their beliefs, gender or nation, this had eventually led to her being respectful towards people she knew nothing of, and probably didn't even deserve to be respected, but she couldn't stop herself even if she wanted.

Kakuzu ignored her, not even sparing her a glance as she sat down on the opposite side of the table.

She watched him count his bundles of money while she silently sipped her water. Elisha didn't like the man by any means, but she was growing tired of the silence. She opened her mouth as if to say something but quickly discarded the idea. She didn't want to risk becoming the main target for his anger if she accidently made him lose count. The last few days she'd noticed that he was overly found of money. It wasn't clear to her why he was being so cheap when it was obvious that he had more than enough to live like a king. Perhaps he was indebted, but for some reason, that didn't seem like an option.

Within a few minutes, Kakuzu placed the last bundle of money on the table. He didn't take his eyes of them even though he was done with the mental arithmetic. She eyed him carefully before taking the initiative to speak.

"Why are you so obsessed with money?"

Despite the fact that she said it softly and with no ill intent, it sounded kind of rude in her own ears. Kakuzu didn't seem to take any offense as he merely spared her a indifferent glance.

"It's the only dependable thing in the world." He stated shortly.

Elisha had come to learn that Kakuzu preferred to keep his sentences as short as possible, a clear sign that he wasn't very sociable. She pondered over his words. By the sound of it, money was the only thing he trusted.

"Does that mean that you don't value anything else?"

His indifferent gaze didn't waver as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"What else is there to value?" He didn't sound angry for once, more amused, or maybe curious, she couldn't quite tell because he was rarely anything other than pissed.

"Love?"

He didn't react for a while, but then he let out something sounding like a snort. Oh yeah, he was amused.

"Love isn't meant for shinobi, it merely clouds your judgment and gets in the way of missions."

Elisha frowned.

"But without it, what point is there to live?"

Kakuzu didn't look impressed.

"You haven't seen the world. There are countless of people living perfectly fine lives without love or anything close to it. Ninjas are nothing but tools and shouldn't be treated as anything else. You do not love tools."

The blonde felt herself tense as a wave of unexpected irritation hit her.

"I may not have seen the world, but I've met lots of ninjas. Even if they are tools, it doesn't change the fact that they're human too. "

Kakuzu scoffed.

"There's a big difference between being human, and acting like a human. Shinobi only bear the shell of men, but is nothing more than a weapon with a broad mind."

Elisha couldn't help but to clench her jaw.

"You're a ninja. And you're definitely human in all shapes and forms."

He frowned, but she could see he wanted her to keep talking.

"How so?"

The blonde discreetly fidgeted with her clothes. Perhaps this was a bad idea.

"I've seen you irritated."

One of his brows rose, as if trying to figure out where she was going with that sentence.

"I've seen you angry."

Kakuzu gazed at her with something looking dangerously close to interest, but she wasn't sure if she misread him. She bit her lip and opened her mouth.

"Tools don't get angry or irritated. Tools don't have emotions."

The room was silent except for Hidan's light breathing. Kakuzu didn't respond, but his eyes was still fixed on her. After a moment his gaze shifted inwards and she could tell her words had affected him. Perhaps he wasn't used to people viewing him as something more than a tool, it wouldn't surprise her. Suddenly, a pang of guilt clenched her stomach. She knew nothing about these guys, and yet her mind had been made up the moment she saw them – she wasn't supposed to like them. They were killers, and they had threatened and hurt people she cared about. That she could never accept, but there was bound the be a reason for their behavior. Granted, she didn't feel the need to directly like them, they did after all kidnap her, but hadn't her father always told her that tolerance, understanding and love was the key to life? She was stuck here with them, that wouldn't change, so trying to find something likeable about these men would only serve to make the unpleasant experience a little easier.

Perhaps she'd struck a chord, because Kakuzu was still staring at nothing. She didn't want to change his beliefs by pressing her opinions in his face, Elisha if anyone, knew just how much theories and ways of life mattered. Perhaps she'd gone too far. If he didn't want to view people her way, then she wasn't going to bother him about it. He had every right to believe what he wanted, even though it made no sense to her. Deciding to ease the tension, she tried to think of questions she could ask without sounding like she was trying to gather information to be used against him. She knew ninjas were slightly paranoid when it came to personal details.

"Kakuzu-san, where are you from?"

His eyes focused on her, probably trying to figure out if she had any hidden intent by asking. When he found none, he answered.

"Takigakure."

She smiled and gave a slight nod.

Kakuzu was more confused then he let on. His brows were twitching as he fought an urge to frown. Just a moment ago, it had been clear to him that she'd started talking just for the sake of breaking the silence. Obviously she was used to having some amount of chattering around her and had a hard time adapting to hostility. Her questions had amused him. It wasn't the first time the logic of human weapons had been questioned, but he never thought she'd use_ him_ of all people as an example to strengthen her theories and beliefs. The strange part of it, was that it actually made sense, even for him who'd stopped viewing himself as a human since his early twenties. Even people who _liked_ Kakuzu, which wasn't that many, had stopped referring to him as a human, and along comes a girl with evident dislike for him and claims otherwise.

He didn't know what to think about that.

That wasn't the end of it. She'd noticed his reaction and changed the subject to something lighter and casual. At first he thought she had some malicious intent behind her question, as if trying to slowly find his weakness, but that theory was just ridiculous. No, that wasn't it. He'd seen how she changed her expression entirely, as if trying to pull back her irritation. That's when it hit him.

She didn't want to step on his toes.

She'd backed down, not because the conversation had scared her, but because she felt like she was being disrespectful to him. He who had taken her away from her home and almost choked her father to death. Why would she even bother trying to get on his good side? He grunted inwardly. It was all just too confusing to bother with.

"Do you have any hobbies?" Her soft voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

He considered ending the conversation, seeing no point in encouraging friendship, but on the other hand, she probably wasn't seeking friends, merely someone to get along with.

"I enjoy reading."

Her eyes seemed to brighten at his answer.

"What's with that look? Did you expect me to say something like 'Kicking puppies and eating babies'?" He said, failing to hide his amusement. It seemed as if that comment was the icebreaker.

A hint of a smile appeared on her lips. It was uncertain and shy, but it was there.

The two talked for a while. Nothing serious, just making small conversation. Kakuzu was pleasantly surprised to find out that she wasn't as much of an idiot as his partner. He could actually talk without simplifying his sentences. She had manners, and politely asked and answered questions as well as made teasing jokes that he actually found amusing.

All this, while still technically being a hostage.

Just because Pain had sent them to recruit her, it didn't necessarily mean she'd be accepted. She still had to prove her worth to him in person, and he wouldn't settle for anything less than top quality. He'd told her so at some point in the middle of the talk, but she didn't seem as shocked as he'd expected. Perhaps she'd already figured it out or taken it for granted. It was interesting. If she already knew, then shouldn't she show some sort of fear? It had been evident the first days, but it slowly evolved into caution, and now acceptance.

She adapted fast. He'd give her that.

Elisha smiled softly. She would never have guessed that Kakuzu was a fan of literature. It was intriguing to hear him talk about the best work he'd ever read, and she found him to be more intellectual than he appeared. When approached in the right way, Kakuzu could actually be … decent. He still couldn't help but to drop a few insults now and then, but the over all conversation turned out to be quite comfortable. 'Nothing is superior to an open mind', that was what her father had told her many times before, but she didn't understand the full weight of the statement up until now. She felt more relaxed in his company, still wary though, she knew he wouldn't hesitate to kill her if he was ordered to, or if the situation called for it.

Having a sophisticated chat with a murderer, yepp, that was a new one.

**OooOOOooo**

Hidan groaned out loud. His head was pounding like hell. It'd been a long time since he drank like that. He placed a hand on his forehead and clenched his teeth.

"Fuck.."

He did like drinking, but this side effect was something he wasn't too found of.

"You never learn, do you?" Kakuzu muttered.

Hidan mustered up his best glare and turned to his masked partner. He briefly noticed Elisha sitting by the same table, looking awfully relaxed despite Kakuzu's company. He didn't show any of his surprise on his face.

The white haired jashinist blinked and fully turned his attention to the blonde.

She answered him with a puzzled look.

"Why the fuck aren't you hungover? You drank almost as much as me!" He exclaimed accusingly. Before she had the chance to respond, Kakuzu spoke up.

"Maybe you're losing your touch? I'm quite ashamed to paired up with someone who can't even out-drink a little girl." He said sounding amused. His eyes were slightly wrinkled, giving Hidan the impression that the bastard was smiling behind his mask. Even Elisha looked amused, as if they were sharing some sort of inside joke. It was pissing him off, but he didn't feel like shouting when he felt like shit.

"Whatever. What time is it?" He said sourly, trying to change the subject.

"Don't know. Well past lunch, you sleep too damn much."

"Go fuck yourself, Kakuzu."

Said man rolled his eyes.

"I'm going out for a bounty. I'll be back tomorrow." Kakuzu stated, slowly rising from his seat. He grabbed his cloak and turned to Elisha.

"Keep an eye on him."

She gave him a small smile and a mock-salute while Hidan settled with flipping him off.

As soon as the door closed, Hidan gave the girl an accusing glare.

"Why aren't you hungover? And don't bullshit me."

Elisha sighed.

"I healed myself as soon as I woke up."

His eyes widened.

"You mean you can heal this?"

She nodded.

"Well fuck, then heal me!"

The only response he got was a frown. Hidan sneered and moved over to the table and sat down heavily next to her. He leaned against the table while resting his chin against his hand and gave her his best mocking-grin.

"Preeetty pleeeeeeease?" He whined, voice filled with obvious sarcasm.

Her frown turned into a glare.

"Why don't you just wait it out?" She said, sounding uncharacteristically stern. He wasn't sure just where all her attitude had come from, and why it was directed towards him and not his partner, but he wasn't in the mood for this.

Elisha saw his eyes change drastically from mild irritation to anger. She hadn't meant to act snotty towards him, but there was just something about this man that made her do and say things she didn't plan to. For some reason, trying to get along with Kakuzu didn't seem as repulsive as trying to get along with Hidan. Kakuzu had been quiet most of the time she'd spent with the two Akatsuki, so she didn't know what to expect from him when she initiated their conversation, but Hidan was different. He was_ never_ quiet, which led her to understand his persona better than she preferred.

He was a loudmouth, he loved to irritate everyone, he had no manners and he only said nice things while being sarcastic. That wasn't the part that made her want to distance herself from him though. He was irritable, yes, but she could handle people like that.

The problem she had with him was how much he loved violence.

On their way to the inn, he'd described in details how he'd chopped up people from Rigware, and how inflicting pain on others brought him _pleasure_. She'd been disgusted, but far too scared to show it, and now for some reason, she didn't feel as scared.

"So you're fine with Kakuzu, but bitchy when it comes to me?"

Her teeth clenched. Why did he have to notice that?

"I'm not fine with Kakuzu, he's tolerable, that's all. _You're_ not. "

Hidan sneered.

"Well ain't that nice. You're gonna be around us for the rest of your miserable life, do you think it's fuckin' clever to make an enemy out of me?"

She wrinkled her nose slightly.

"I don't want to be on your good side."

Hidan gave her a smile, but it didn't look friendly at all.

"Why?"

Elisha had warning bells going off in her head, she didn't care.

"You slashed a little kid!" She shouted. The woman suddenly paused and blinked.

That wasn't what she'd wanted to say. She wanted to tell him he was a violent inconsiderate bastard... Or maybe this was what had really been bugging her. She'd felt awful for the boy who was caught in the chaos brought by the Akatsuki. She just couldn't believe how someone could be so heartless, and Elisha downright refused to bother with people who committed such horrible acts. Hidan sat quietly by her side, looking strangely at her while taking in her words. He didn't react the way she thought he would. Instead of getting angry and defensive he looked at her with a confused stare.

"The hell are you talkin' bout?"

Elisha blinked once again, then frowned angrily.

"The little boy in Rigware! He had a huge wound across his chest, he was crying, telling me a demon had slashed him! I can't believe you'd do something so despicable! You killed and wounded over 30 people!" She yelled, still angry. Had he actually forgotten? Did he do these things so often that he stopped caring? He frowned at her. They sat silent for a while, the only sound to be heard was the rain hitting the window.

"I didn't attack any kid." He said, still sounding like he was deep in thought, like he was recalling the whole massacre.

"I killed two guys... both were shinobi..." He started, counting his kills. Elisha frowned and gave him a hateful glare that he didn't seem to care about.

"Then I wounded four civilians so they could lead us to the church, that's it. Kakuzu choked a guy, but there was no kid." He said, still looking thoughtful.

Elisha was gripping her pants tightly. So her ultimate reason for hating him was gone. He was still a murderer though... but then again, so was Kakuzu. She inwardly cringed at her priorities and morals, why did they have to be so confusing and vague?

"Then who killed and harmed the rest of the people?" She said with clenched teeth.

"Pfft, fucked if I know." He said casually, suddenly back to his normal behavior. A toothy grin formed on his face.

"Now that you know that I'm innocent, do you like me more?" He said with a teasing voice.

She really wasn't in the mood for this.

"No! You're not innocent and I don't like you!"

Hidan huffed.

"But you're fine with Ka-"

"I'm not fine with him! I'll never be able to_ like _a murderer!" She was practically shouting at him, but he didn't seem to mind.

"Oh is that so? Not even if they... let's say, save you from a fire, or rescue a stray dog from some angry ostriches?" He was barely being serious, but she huffed anyway.

"That's different."

"How?"

He was testing her again, trying to force reactions out of her like yesterday. She grit her teeth.

"If they do nice things, that shows they aren't completely heartless, which-" Hidan groaned loudly.

"Why do you have to make everything so fuckin' complicated? If they're nice to you, then what's the damn problem?" He sounded genuinely confused.

"The problem is that I'm not okey with murder! It's wrong!"

Hidan snorted.

"So typical. I hate it when people try to act like saints."

Her eyes widened.

"_What?_"

He snorted.

"You heard me! You probably don't even give a shit about anyone but your friends and family, you just say thing's like 'murder is wrong!' because that's what you've been told to say."

She felt anger rising.

"You know nothing about me!"

Hidan grinned, only adding to her boiling rage.

"Oh I don't? You're a sheltered little girl who thinks she's got it all figured out. You've already drawn the line of good and evil even though it's subjective. I bet you've even imagined yourself to be a 'tolerant and forgiving' individual. Hah, what's bad joke, you're such a fuckin' hypocrite."

Before he could say another word, she raised her hand slapped him hard across his cheek. The room echoed with the sound of the impact as his face whipped to the side. Her hand was stinging, a sign that she hadn't held back. It didn't take long for regret to push away her anger. She wondered briefly why he didn't stop her, but then she saw his smile. It wasn't a kind smile, it was the smile of someone who knew he'd just won. It was sly, it was cruel, and it made her stomach turn.

"So violence is okay all of the sudden? Is it because you're the one in charge of it?"

Elisha lowered her hand as she bit her lip. Her eyes shifted downward, not wanting to look at Hidan at the moment. She wasn't feeling angry anymore, just naive. Hidan was a rude bastard, but that didn't mean he was completely wrong about her either.

Her logic was flawed. Her morals were contradicting.

She wanted to be able to like everyone, she wanted to be able to forgive everyone, and yet she wrinkled her nose in disgust whenever someone didn't meet her moral standards. The blonde clenched her fist. The conversations she'd had with both Kakuzu and Hidan had so far made her question so many things about the world and herself. She scoffed inwardly. It was so typical of her to nudge into sensitive subjects when her plan was to keep a low profile and stay as neutral as possible.

"Sorry I hit you." She muttered, not wanting to continue on their current topic. She'd already made herself look like a childish fool, acting like a wiseacre.

"I'll forgive you if you heal my damn hangover." He said, sounding more laid back already.

She didn't feel like arguing any further, it was pointless either way. Elisha sighed and stretched out her arm to touch his forehead. She softly placed her palm against his skin and let the blue light illuminate her hand. He let out a relieved grunting sound and closed his eyes.

After the short healing session, Hidan blinked a couple of times before stretching.

"You know, that trick is sorta handy. Now I can get drunk without the shitty aftereffect." He said with a mock-grin. Elisha rolled her eyes.

"If you drink too much, you can damage your liver to the point where it'll stop working completely. I suggest to cut down on the drinking or you'll die."

He burst out laughing and gave her a 'if-you-only-knew' look. Deciding not to ask, she instead picked up the remaining bottle of water from under the table and placed it before him. Hidan gave her a puzzled look.

"You should drink, your body is most likely very dehydrated after all the alcohol."

"Yeah yeah, I know that. Did you get this for me?"

She resisted the urge to sigh.

"Yes, I got it while I was looking for some water for myself. I thought you'd need it."

A sly grin spread across his face.

"I knew you liked me a little bit."

Elisha frowned at him.

"Tsh, don't look at me like that, I know you hate me, I just-"

"I don't hate you."

One of his brows rose.

"I just don't like you, that's all."

He huffed and rested his cheek on his palm. It looked like he was about to argue again, but something stopped him. Perhaps he wasn't in the mood anymore. He took a large gulp of water, almost emptying the whole thing in one go, then looked out the window.

"When is this fuckin' rain going ease up..." He grumbled annoyingly.

**oooOOOooo**

Darkness enveloped the medium sized room as time passed on. Hidan had since a few hours ago fallen asleep, and was now sprawled out on his and Kakuzu's mattress which he'd 'borrowed' due to his partners temporary absence. Elisha didn't have the same luck as the man lying at the opposite side of the room when it came to sleep. She was tired from the small side effects of her hangover, but it didn't seem as if the sandman was going to visit her any time soon.

After her short verbal brawl with Hidan, things had settled down between them. He still constantly annoyed her with indirect insults, but he kept it on a superficial level so she wouldn't get seriously upset. She doubted he took her feelings in consideration, he was probably just not interested in having a moody woman around him all day. Even though they didn't talk about things that got either of them genuinely upset, that didn't stop them from handing out rather nasty comments about one another. He'd told her countless of times whenever she dropped a smart remark at him, that he wouldn't hesitate to 'sacrifice her ass' if it turned out she wasn't needed by the Akatsuki anymore, and she wholeheartedly believed him. Both Hidan and Kakuzu wouldn't be doubtful if it ever came down to that scenario, they all knew that. Some neutral conversations wasn't going to change their cold passive hearts into seeing her as something more than a mission.

She was starting to feel thirsty again, even though she'd just recently emptied a whole bottle of water. She glanced over at Hidan. He was lying with his head pretty close to the front door. Waking him up didn't feel like a good idea, especially since they had ended the night with less than nice words, he'd probably just act like an ass and tell her to go back to sleep. She wondered briefly if he'd even bother or notice if she went to the kitchen for something more to drink, but a wave of thirst made her come to the conclusion that she didn't really care. He probably wouldn't notice if she snuck out for a minute, and besides, she wasn't going to run away. She silently sat up, moving the blanket to side and rose to her feet. The floor creaked as she took her first step and she instantly stilled. Biting her lip, she glanced over to Hidan. His head was still buried in pillows, and he didn't move or show any signs that he'd heard her. Letting out a breath, she kept walking with cautious steps towards the door. The blonde was standing dangerously close to Hidan, and he still showed no indication that he'd registered her movements. Letting out a sigh, she took another step, now within arm's length of her destination.

Suddenly, her lower leg was caught in a strong grip, almost causing her to fall face first to the floor. She yelped as her hands sought out the wall before her, catching herself before slamming her head against the wall. She looked down to the hand around her ankle, following the muscled arm as she reached the eyes of her captor. His head was still pressed against the pillow and he held a bored expression. His eyes were wide awake as he glanced at her with suspicion.

"The fuck' are you doing?"

She gulped. He didn't sound anything like the teasing idiot he usually was. Apparently, he was capable of being serious when it came to the success of a mission.

"I was just going to get some water." Her voice didn't sound as solid as she wanted it to. It was strange, she thought she'd gotten rid of most of her fear for these guys, but it seemed as if she'd been too quick to judge.

He eyed her for a moment then released her. Almost immediately he returned to his more laid back self.

"Five minutes. If you're late I'll rape you." He said before burying his head between the pillows again.

She doubted he was serious, but she wasn't planning to find out the hard way. She slipped out of the door and walked in a fast pace towards the reception. The inn had a very different feeling to it when it was completely dark and she only had the sound of rain as company. Needless to say, the staff was nowhere to be found, but it was to be expected at night. Walking into the empty bar, she had to suppress a shudder from the horrible stench seemingly coming from the kitchen. Elisha frowned as she walked over to door before pushing it open. It was strange, shouldn't the people in charge of this place be aware of the hygiene in their own building? It was one thing to own a shabby hotel, but the smell itself almost made her vomit. She couldn't quite figure out why the scent felt oddly familiar, but she wasn't planing on standing around to find out. She quickly opened the fridge and pulled out two bottles before closing the door. Wrinkling her nose once more, she gave the kitchen a criticizing glance before walking towards the exit.

That's when she heard something. A faint buzzing sound coming from the corner furthest away from the fridge. It wasn't in line of sight due to a big stove taking up most space in the middle of the room, but as she squinted her eyes, she saw flies. Lots of them. Her face took on a look of disgust. The insects had probably found the source of the smell before anyone else. She took a step towards the bar but stopped. Her eyes widened as she was starting to recall just where she'd smelt something similar to this. Whenever a patient had died at the church of Peru, they would place the corpse inside a chamber until a coffin was prepared for the funeral.

The smell from the corner of the kitchen was disturbingly similar to the smell of the chamber.

Changing direction, she slowly walked to the corner of the kitchen. She gulped as her view was becoming broader until she saw it.

The corpse of the innkeeper. His face was so covered in dried blood and flies that she almost didn't recognize him. His right hand was cut of, and a large wound on his stomach gave her a direct view of his intestines.

Elisha gasped in horror as she felt the earlier nausea double up. She had seen horrible wounds and corpses as a medic, but this was by far the worst. Not being able to think straight in a cloud of stench, she darted for the door leading to the bar. She felt tears stinging in her eyes as she stumbled out of the kitchen. She had to get Hidan.

Suddenly, a pang of searing pain shot through her head. Her mouth fell open in a silent scream as her eyes widened in fear. Losing her balance, she fell heavily to floor, her already aching head slamming against the boards. Something had hit her in the back the head. Hard. Confusion was taking over her senses and she had a difficult time taking in what her eyes were viewing, but she didn't fail to notice the big black boots walking in her direction. In fact, there was more than one pair of black boots.

That was the last thing she saw before her world went black.


	5. Chapter 5

**Paradise**

_Chapter 4: Hidden past_

For a while, she felt nothing. The inky darkness swept over her senses, leaving her blinded to the world. Then there was pain. It held some similarities to the ache she'd felt when she woke up from her hangover, except this felt much worse. When she smelt the metallic scent of blood seemingly coming from all around her, Elisha squinted her eyes open.

The room – if you could call it that – had walls made out of some dark material, and judging from the earthy smell, she vaguely guessed that she was in some sort of cave. The floor was just plain dirt... Or sand. It was hard to register due to her sickening dizziness. Forcing herself into a sitting position, she looked around the room, trying to find a door or a window as her mind slowly assembled just _how_ she managed to end up in a place like this. The only source of light was coming from a closed door at the far right of the room. She vaguely heard the sound of rain and men talking from behind it.

Taking a deep breath, she raised her hand to the back of her head, trying to find the source of the searing pain. She hissed as her fingers nudged at the sensitive skin, the sensation almost causing her to throw up. Her hands immediately took on a faint blue glowing as the blonde healed her skull. Pieces of what had happened were starting to fall into place. Someone had ambushed her and hit her in the head when she was about to go back to Hidan. Her nose wrinkled slightly. She wasn't used to being manhandled like that. Back in the church, she'd been considered a royalty, or something close to it, and had therefore stayed out of brawls without any problems. Even Kakuzu and Hidan had been more gentle with her, except for Hidan's crude language.

Her eyes widened. That was right, she wasn't with the Akatsuki anymore. She swallowed thickly. Should she try finding them? The blonde didn't know what her current captors were like, but she had a guess, that wasn't the point though. If Akatsuki didn't have the heir of the Deus bloodline left in their possession, would they go for her father or try to find her? They hadn't walked that far from the church, so going back would probably save them a lot of time depending on how fast Hidan had reacted to her being late from her trip to the kitchen. Having no sense of time was starting to to get highly unpractical.

A small creak and a stream of light interrupted her thoughts. She squinted her eyes at the silhouette by the doorway, trying to catch a glimpse of her captors face - to no avail. The man was masked, dressed in dark fabric from head to toe. The only things with color was his olive-green scarf, along with his brown eyes. She saw little of his skin, but he seemed very pale, more so than her. His dark hair reached down to his shoulders, framing his face with his black locks.

"Get up."

His voice was almost as deep as Kakuzu's, and the way he looked at her, reminded her of how the masked Akatsuki had looked at Hidan. With deep and utter despise.

Not wanting to anger him, she swiftly got to her feet and gave him a cautious look. The man turned and gave her a signal to follow him, and so she did.

Walking out of her room, she noticed she'd been right indeed. It was a cave in the middle of nowhere, guarded heavily by at least 15 shinobi. From the looks of it, they were somewhere inside a forest and the dull light from the sky gave her the impression that it was early in the morning. The rain was still pouring, blocking the sight of objects standing further away. Curious stares turned her way as she walked behind the man she'd just met, making her feel nervous. Most of the men looking at her had a feral glint in their eyes, as if they wanted to rip her apart in all possible ways. She turned her gaze to the ground, ignoring them as much as she could. She briefly noticed tents in different sizes as they walked. The bigger ones had small gatherings around them, having shelter under some trees, the ninjas wasted time by playing card games on a few boxes.

Her eyes widened in recognition. Some of the men by the tents had definitely been the thugs at the bar. As if feeling her stare, their heads turned to her, giving her unsettling glares that made her skin crawl.

"We're here." The man in front of her grumbled.

They stopped at the biggest tent of the bunch, almost the size of a house. By the way the dark clad man was standing by the side, giving her a irritated scowl, she assumed he wanted her to walk inside alone.

She gulped, walked up to the drapes covering the entrance and pulled them aside.

**oooOOOooo**

Hidan cursed under his breath. He'd been walking the streets close to the inn for hours looking for that idiot woman. He'd been annoyed to notice that she'd failed to get water within the given amount of time, but when she didn't come back after ten whole minutes, he left his bed and searched the inn. It wasn't until he found the corpse in the kitchen that he understood that something was seriously wrong. He ripped open all doors he could possibly find in the shaggy building, not finding a single trace of the blonde, just more corpses of employees working at the inn. It was in the middle of the damn night, and there was no trace of her, like she'd disappeared from the face of the earth. At first he was pissed, then he grew slightly anxious, not because he was worried about the girl – that was just ridiculous – but Kakuzu was _not_ going to be happy about this, not Pain either. Of course she'd have to go invisible when he had the watch. When he found fresh blood in the bar, he frowned deeply. If she was dead, then there was going to be trouble. Sure, he'd tossed around the thoughts of killing her himself, but it was more trouble than it was worth.

He let out a frustrated growl as he looked around the corners of buildings, in alleys and every possible bar without finding anything. The unnerving part was that he couldn't feel her chakra signature either, which meant that she was either far away, or dead.

Hidan blinked as he noticed an old man sitting outside on his porch, silently rocking his chair back and forth.

"Hey old man! Have you seen a blonde woman around here?" He shouted from where he stood.

The geezer slowly raised his head to look at whoever was making such fuss this early in the morning.

"Sorry boy, no girl has passed here."

Hidan let a growl slip passed his lips.

"Have you seen anything weird then?" He said a little more impatiently.

The man brought a finger to a his lips as he gazed up into the sky. Hidan rolled his eyes at the obvious thinking pose but held his tongue. He was more irritated than usual, for good reasons, and all this guy wasn't helping for shit. Standing out in the rain talking to a senile old man wasn't the top of his priorities.

"Well... there were a couple ninjas from the Sound passing by not that long ago. That might not be such a strange thing, but this village rarely gets visited by men of their caliber."

Hidan frowned. Well shit, sound ninjas were famous for two things: One – Bounty hunting. Two – Being Orochimaru's lapdogs. Either of the two were bad news. He couldn't say for sure that they were the reason for Elisha's disappearance, but it _was_ really fuckin' suspicious. If they had been the ones to steal her away from them, they were most likely not that far off, but damn, he couldn't just run off and search for someone or something if he wasn't sure he was looking at the right direction. He might just end going the opposite way from the girl, and in the middle of this goddamn weather, that wasn't something he fancied.

"Hidan."

Said man froze. Uh oh.

Mustering up the most bored look he could, Hidan casually turned around to face his partner who looked both drenched and highly irritated. They both stared at each other for a moment, as if they already knew how the conversation was going to go down.

"You lost her, didn't you?"

The jashinist pouted irritably which was enough of an answer for Kakuzu.

"She fuckin' disappeared when she went to get some water! I've been searching for six hours and the only thing I've got is that the workers at the inn is dead and there's shinobi from the Sound around her somewhere!" He exclaimed, too exhausted and pissed off to hide his frustration.

Kakuzu took in the information and regarded him with a hateful glare.

"How were they killed?"

Hidan blinked dumbly.

"Huh?"

Kakuzu sighed.

"The workers. How did they die?" His voice was laced with controlled anger, waiting to burst.

Hidan thought for a moment.

"Kinda hard to tell, it was messy. Most of them were slashed across the chest or the throat. They were all bleeding from the face, but there were no scratc-"

"Were they bleeding from the ears?"

"...Yeah I think so."

Kakuzu turned away from him and started walking.

"H-hey! Where the hell are you going?"

"I'm getting information from a local bounty dealer about the sound ninjas."

Hidan frowned.

"Just how do you know they're responsible for this mess?"

Kakuzu huffed.

"_You're_ responsible for this mess, and if you used your head you wouldn't have to ask."

The jashinist gave his partner a deep scowl and cursed under his breath before following the masked ninja.

**oooOOOooo**

Elisha bit her lip anxiously as she walked inside. It was spacious despite having all sorts of things stacked messily around the edges of the tent. By the looks of it, this little campsite was the temporary residence of her captors. Her eyes fell to the far end of the tent, revealing a glass table along with two empty chairs. She walked up to the closest chair and sat down, naturally assuming she was allowed to do so. Her back was turned towards the entrance, probably an unwise move, but if they wanted to kill her, she wouldn't be able to protect herself regardless of which way her back was facing.

It didn't take long until she heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind her. They were light without trying to be stealthy, giving her the impression that whoever just walked in was either small or weightless. As the individual rounded the left side of the table, she noticed from the corner of her eye that she'd been very wrong. The tall man sat down on the opposite side of the table, giving her a once over as she stole glances of her own. Much like the first guy she'd met, this one was also dressed in black, however, this man had a more unique and memorable appearance.

His cloak reminded her of the Akatsuki cloak in some aspects, mostly the high collar, though instead of draping over his whole figure, it stopped somewhere around the midsection of his torso. It didn't have sleeves so it looked more like a strange cape draping over his shoulders. Underneath the black fabric, she could vaguely see a simple gray shirt along with some kunai's strapped to a belt. His baggy pants were as dark as his cape with bandage running over his tights. She frowned inwardly. Why did he use bandage on the outside of his pants? Didn't that work against the cause? Disregarding her thoughts, her eyes widened when she noticed his boots. How did he manage to practically sneak into the tent with _those? _The most interesting part of his attire came to her view when he placed his hands on the table, crossing his fingers in a casual way. Both of his arms were covered in huge metallic gloves. Spikes and sharpened edges were on all the right places if you wanted to cause someone serious harm.

She gulped as she inspected his deadly hands, but was pulled out of her mental images when she heard a deep chuckle. Lastly, her eyes landed on the face of the man in front of her. His face held a great amount of amusement as she'd probably been caught staring at him with fear in her eyes. His skin was sickly pale, and he had dark bags under his eyes, giving him almost a sleepy look if it weren't for those striking eyes. Yellow globes that seemed to hold a peculiar shine to them, gazed at her with mild interest. His sharp features were enhanced by his dark slicked back hair which framed his face perfectly. Even if he looked scary, there was no denying that he was very handsome. He was probably around his thirties, but it was hard to tell. Suddenly, she felt self conscious. Even though it should have been the last thing on her mind, she couldn't help but to feel awfully unsightly in her current state. Here she was, sitting with a handsome man, while she looked like she'd been dragged behind a horse for a day. Her blonde hair was muddy and covered in dried blood, and she doubted her face was any cleaner. The spare clothes Hidan had given her were noticeably dirty despite their dark color and was starting to smell funny. She laughed inwardly. Such a stupid thing to worry about in a situation like this.

"I suppose you have lots of questions."

Elisha blinked. It was true, she did, but she hadn't spent her time trying to organize the chaos in her head, let alone trying to muster up questions to ask her captor. The past few minutes had consisted of repairing and analyzing. The man smiled at her lost expression.

"I can see you're a bit taken aback by the recent turn of events. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Khoroe Gonzou, I'm a a bounty hunter from Otogakure."

He was speaking politely, but his voice held an undertone of malicious intent.

"As much as I dislike threatening young ladies, I must ask you to act properly and hold your emotions in check or there's going to be trouble. It's for the comfort of both of us, I'm sure you understand."

Elisha nodded hesitantly.

"Why am I here?" She asked. Her voice cracked, causing Khoroe's lips to twitch upward.

"If you truly want to know, I'd be honored to enlighten you. I suppose you don't know much about the history of the Deus bloodline?"

She shook her head.

"It's a long story, so let's start from the beginning, shall we?"

Elisha nodded, watching him cautiously.

Leaning back into his chair, he gave her one last amused look before he started talking.

"35 Years ago, Konohagakure was in a constant state of emergency. One might not find the trouble itself in a history book, but there was a problem regardless. In fact, in a lesser extent, it existed not only in Konohagakure, but in every village who hired ninjas for missions. A problem that still exists, and was never meant to be solved. It was a time when the usage of shinobi was at it's peak, and human life was wasted without any concern of the employer."

The blonde frowned.

"It wasn't until the newest entries for the chūnin exam entered the training grounds that people even acknowledged that something wasn't handled the right way. The most common amount of genins trying to reach for the chūnin rank every year in every country, is twelve. At that year, Konohagakure had _three_."

Khoroe crossed his arms over his chest as he let his words sink in.

"It wasn't the fact that the generation of ninjas were too weak to qualify for the physical test, there just wasn't enough shinobi coming in a steady pace. Ninjas were dying ruthlessly everyday, leaving the city more open for attacks that Konohagakure's current army of shinobi wouldn't be able to fend off. The issue itself wasn't talked about, and supposedly for a good reason. The bonds between the different lands weren't nearly as strong as they are today, everyone could be considered an enemy."

Elisha waited patiently for him to continue.

"That was when a famous lady you might have heard of stepped in." He said with a crooked grin.

"Lady Tsunade, one of the legendary sannin and today's Hokage of Konohagakure stepped up and voiced what everybody had been thinking but refrained from saying. The shinobi world needed field medics and further studies in the art of healing, and they needed it fast. Now this is the part where things get interesting."

The blonde gave him a worried look. The way he said it made her feel like she was about to get involved in the worst possible way.

"Your father, the first and the only carrier of the Deus bloodline, was discovered by three jounins patrolling the borders of the land of fire. His foot had been caught in a bear trap, it nearly cut his limb right off. The jounins were about to help him when they noticed how he was able to heal it himself within mere seconds. Not wanting to pass on such a fine prodigy, they asked him to come back to Konahagakure to learn about chakra control and to further strengthen his abilities, but he refused. He was nothing but a simple traveler, selfishly ignoring the needs of others, claiming that whatever fights they got into were their own problems."

Elisha couldn't believe her ears. Her father was a kind man, he cared for others, he _wanted_ to help!

"The three jounins knew they couldn't let someone with healing powers such as his slip away from their fingers, so they bribed him with promises of wealth and a life of luxury if he agreed to teach his technique to some of the medics back in their village. He then revealed that he knew nothing of chakra, and the powers he used had been with him for as long as he could remember, he told them he couldn't teach anyone. The jounins were shocked to discover that it was a bloodline and not pure talent, but their bribe still stood. Finally convincing him, they led him back to the village where he polished his healing abilities to the max, though an unexpected problem occurred."

Khoroe gave her a serious look before continuing.

"Your father didn't want to serve as a ninja, and seeing as his abilities could not be taught, there was only one option left which would have been brought to action either way. Breeding. During his first week in the village, he was showered with women, and within months, eight children were born. All of them were trained to be fully capable of serving as field medics at the age of twelve. Unfortunately, two of his sons were lost on their first B-rank mission, sending your father into a deep depression. He moved into the church Peru to escape the violence of shinobi, isolating himself from the outside world. He tried to convince his remaining sons and daughters to join him, but they were already far too loyal to the village. Soon enough, they too met the cruel fate of death. Not wanting to relive the pain of losing a child, your father begged the Hokage not to force him to breed again. Luckily for him, the unnamed war was coming to an end, and the shinobi finally had time to rest. Times of peace were to be expected, so the Hokage made him a deal. The church Peru and the people residing in its territory would be given protection by Konohagakure as long as he promised to grant the world one more child."

Elisha's eyes widened in realization.

"Your father agreed, and few years later you were born. For a long time, everything was peaceful, and Vincent decided to keep you oblivious about the complicated details of his past. However, two weeks ago, the task to protect the church was cast aside. The world is no longer lacking healers and Konahagakure is busy fighting a war themselves against the Akatsuki. Perhaps they thought your bloodline would be less appealing when met with a tougher competition, regardless of the reason, your bloodline is free for the taking and on the top of every billboard owned by bounty hunters, and no one is coming to save you."

The blonde stared at the man in front of her. There were so many things she didn't understand, so many things that didn't make any sense!

"T-this can't be true! If me and my father were the only ones left with the Deus bloodline, how come the elders at the church could heal at the same pace as me?" Her voice was shaking badly, but she ignored it.

Khoroe snorted.

"They are most likely regular healers."

All this had to be untrue, it was just too absurd. She knew her father, this couldn't be his past.

"You've got to be lying!" She exclaimed. She could feel tears rising to her eyes but she blinked them away.

"How do you even know all this?" Her voice couldn't keep from cracking at the last word.

Khoroe regarded her with a carefree glance before answering.

"It's not a secret, you were just badly informed. I wonder how it feels to have strangers knowing more about you than yourself." He smirked.

Elisha was starting to panic, she could hear her breathing quickening.

"Y-you don't understand, I have to go back to Hidan and Kakuzu, or t-they'll take my father." She spluttered, as if Khoroe knew about those two.

The man before her rose to his feet.

"Whoever Kakuzu and Hidan is doesn't matter, and besides, your father is also on the billboard. He'll be visited at one time or another. The fact that we abducted you is nothing but coincidence. If my men hadn't spotted you at the bar yesterday, we would have headed for the church. Now concerning your case, should I turn you in for a very flattering reward, or keep you as a personal healer? That's the only thing I have on my mind right now."

Tears were starting to leak from her eyes as a new wave of despair hit her. Her father wasn't safe anymore?

"You said that regular healers aren't unique! The power of my bloodline doesn't necessarily exceed the me-"

"It does. You probably haven't been taught how to use chakra yet, and even without that, you can heal faster and more thoroughly than trained medics."

It was as if his words had triggered her breaking point. All the pent up emotions from the recent events were starting to tear her from the inside out. Why did all of this have to happen? Her tears were pouring freely as she struggled to catch her breath.

"W-why?" She whispered between hiccups.

"Why what?" He asked just as politely as before.

"Why are you telling me all this!" She shouted as she too rose to her feet.

Khoroe regarded her with an indifferent glance before sighing.

"Because you asked."

Elisha was shaking. She didn't know what to do anymore. Her world was crumbling down and there was nothing she could do about it.

"So, how's it gonna be?"

The girl gritted her teeth. He was talking, she saw that, but the pounding in her ears were deafening. The building panic inside her head was screaming at her, telling her to run and find her father, telling her that she'd definitely die if she stayed here.

"Are we going to be friends, or enemies?"

Without thinking, she sprinted for the exit only to be stopped immediately. Khoroe was blocking her path, giving her a stern glare. She didn't bother questioning just how he'd been able to move so fast, all she could focus on was the overwhelming fear.

"Enemies it is. I have no use for a healer who isn't willing to cooperate. Tomorrow, I'm handing you over to a gentleman in Iwagakure."

Khoroe opened the drapes and called to some of his men. Within seconds, the man she'd met at first entered along with a bald giant dressed in gray.

"Igirith, tie her with chakra-bindings and place her in the coffin. Novael, I need you to bring me Vincent of the Deus bloodline."

His words snapped her back into reality.

"W-wait! You're bringing my father too?" She exlaimed.

"Might as well." He said casually, making it perfectly clear that her opinions and feelings didn't mean a single thing. Khoroe walked out of the tent, not sparing her a single glance as he left.

"WAIT! Please, you can't do this!" She shouted at his retreating figure, only to be ignored as if she'd lowered herself from being a human to a mere object.

The bald giant named Igirith snarled at her before grabbing her face with his huge hand. With a violent swing, he tossed her across the tent like a rag doll. Her body hit the floor painfully, the speed and force of the push causing her to roll uncontrollably until her back slammed against a few boxes. The impact made her yelp out in fear and the wound in the back of her head from her previous injury was ripped open.

"Noisy bitch." He spat.

The other man named Novael rolled his eyes and left.

Elisha whimpered as blood started to drip around her face. Her hands shook as the red liquid draped her fingers and the floor beneath her. The blonde jerked her head up as the sound of the giants footsteps got closer. Igirith looked down at her shivering form, giving her a hateful glare as he reached for her hands.

"Don't struggle, unless you want to lose some limbs that is." He said with a malicious grin.

She didn't respond, but her body felt too strained to resist anyway. As he tied her with ropes, all she could think of was the face of her father, one of her most precious persons. He was one of the main reasons she'd left with Hidan and Kakuzu in the first place, and it was all for nothing. A strange tingle from the ropes made her wince. It had to be the feeling of her chakra slipping away. She wonder briefly if she'd be able to heal her wound without chakra, but did it really matter? Her life was slowly and steadily going into a downward spiral anyway.

**oooOOOooo **

Hidan groaned.

"I thought you said the bounty dealer was nearby! We've been walking for fuckin' hours!"

Kakuzu gave his partner a scowl.

"We're here. And stop complaining, you caused this."

The jashinist answered him only with a hard glare. Kakuzu sighed inwardly. This day couldn't possibly have started any worse. The girl had only been captured for three whole days, and she was already missing. He blamed Hidan, but he'd never admit that he blamed himself just as much. Had he not gone out for his own private deeds, they would have most certainly found Elisha in an instant. In the end, the blame would fall on both of them if Pain was informed about this mess.

Both men stopped in front of a dull looking house built out of planks painted in green. It's appearance was common, a perfect camouflage for avoiding suspicion from patrolling shinobi. Kakuzu walked up and knocked on the front door seven times on different places of the door, a known trick amongst famous bounty hunters to keep their employers from freaking out. Within seconds, a familiar face opened the door, greeting the masked ninja with a respectful nod and Hidan with a suspicious glance. The man had not aged a day since last time they met. His brown hair and permanent frown was still in place. He didn't have his big fuzzy beard though. It was obvious he hadn't shaved for a week or two, but the new appearance didn't ruin his professional look.

"Okito," Kakuzu greeted.

"I need information." He stated flatly.

"Of course. Come inside."

The house was noticeably in a worse condition on the inside, but still clean enough to not raise mistrust in case of unexpected visitors. The three men walked down a long corridor, not bothering to fill out the silence. After a few twists and turns, a staircase leading down to a basement came into their line of view. Walking down, Hidan and Kakuzu paused briefly to let Okito open a large metal door at the end of the stairs. It opened with a creak, and the man politely held it open for them as they walked in. Kakuzu walked up to a broad table and sat down, Hidan on the other hand was looking extremely stubborn for some reason and insisted on standing. The room was almost entirely dark except from the spot in the middle, lit up by a small lamp hanging from the roof. The famous billboard was hanging on the left wall, barely noticeable in the dim light. Okito closed the door behind him and walked up to sit on the opposite side of Kakuzu. He knitted his hands together and gave him a signal to ask away.

"There were sound ninjas here recently. I need to know what they were after."

Okito's eyes widened. The masked ninja scoffed inwardly. This man would probably never get used to his forwardness. He knew that asking questions about other bounty hunters and their business were somewhat of a taboo, but there was no time for useless things like that.

"Kakuzu-san, you surely must know that information like that isn't what I provide." He stated worriedly with a frown.

"I'm aware. You should be know that I won't take no for an answer."

Hidan huffed.

"We don't have time for this shit, either tell us what you know or I'll split you in two." Hidan filled in.

For once, his bluntness wasn't a wasted. Okito regarded them both with a troubled glance, then sighed deeply.

"You're getting me into an awful lot of trouble..."

Kakuzu waited for him to talk.

"Two days ago, a missing nin from Otogakure named Khoroe Gonzou walked in here. He's a regular, usually comes by two times a month to check out bounties and deliver corpses. He's got a fair amount of followers willingly working for him at a low price. He doesn't talk much about who he's going to fetch, but he seemed rather intrigued by the two newest names on the billboard."

"The names being?" Hidan interrupted.

"Vincent and Elisha of the Deus bloodline."

Well, at least they were on the right track. He wasn't that surprised by the fact that the girl and her father had made it to the billboard in such a short notice. He knew the history of the Deus bloodline fairly well and he'd heard whispers of Konoha considering to ditch the church, but he didn't expect it to happen when Tsunade was the Hokage.

"I need to know the current location of Khoroe Gonzou. Yesterday, Elisha was stolen from our keep. We have strong reasons to believe that he is the one responsible for her disappearance."

Okito's eyes filled with understanding.

"I see. I'm sorry to inform you that I do not know of their current residence. One thing I do know, is that the bounty were to be turned in to a man in Iwa for a high price."

Kakuzu frowned. They had a lead now, but this was taking far too long. They were in the Land of fire, traveling to Iwagakure would take about five days. Noticing Kakuzu troubled face, Okito let out a sigh.

"I don't know if this will help, but Gonzou carried a heavy scent of forest. Supposedly he and his crew has set up a camp nearby."

Kakuzu gave him a look.

"The closest forest around here that can be used for camping is about an hour away." He stated more to himself than anyone else.

"Well fuck, let's go then! This place smells like shit, I can't wait to get back in the rain." Hidan exclaimed and walked out the door. Kakuzu gave him a bored glance before turning to Okito.

"Your help is appreciated as always, Okito. Expect to see me around in a near future."

Okito snorted and offered a humorless smile.

"If I'm alive. It never ends well for those who double-cross shinobi's."

Kakuzu's lips twitched in amusement. A question he forgot to ask suddenly popped into his mind.

"This Khoroe Gonzou, what rank is he and his followers?"

It didn't really matter, he'd kill them all if they got in his way, but having the upper hand in every form was always appreciated.

"S-ranked. I don't know much about his crew, but seeing as he works alone, I'm guessing he's the strongest one so he can keep them all in control."

Kakuzu nodded and followed his partner who was most likely already outside. Within moments, his eyes met the dull light and the sound of rain, and once again they were forced to walk around in this shitty weather.

"Hey Kakuzu."

Here we go.

"We should have some lunch."

Kakuzu's brow twitched.

"They could be moving away for all we know."

Hidan huffed.

"That's retarded. Why would they travel now? They're probably eating lunch too, so we wont really lose time. Everybody loves lunch."

Kakuzu let out a deep breath.

"Your stupidity never ceases to amaze me."

"I love you too, Kakuzu-chan. But seriously, I'm thinking noodles..."


	6. Chapter 6

**Paradise**

_Chapter 5: Rebirth_

Her eyes were wide open, and yet she saw nothing. She was back in the darkness again, but this time in a different location and with more concern on her shoulders. Everything was unclear, her future, the safety of her father, the safety of _herself_. Elisha let out a deep breath as she tried to blink away her tears. She'd been stuffed in a coffin, a fitting place for someone who was bound to meet death in some shape or form in a near future. It was pitch black and the air felt dry around her, making hear breathing shaky and forced. Both her arms and legs were uncomfortably tied in chakra-bindings, the ropes being so tight around her wrists and ankles that they almost cut the blood circulation to her hands and feet. The bindings stung her skin constantly, but it was nothing compared to the open wound on the back of her head. Igirith had payed no attention to the severe bleeding as he tossed her into the coffin, leaving her no room to heal herself before getting locked up in the tiny box. If only she'd landed on her stomach so the the aching spot didn't push against the boards. Never in her life had she been afraid of small spaces, but claustrophobia was starting to build up quickly in her current situation. She could hear men laughing and rain hitting the lid of the coffin, meaning she was somewhere outside.

Time passed slowly, but the panic and distress remained. She'd never felt so helpless in her entire life and it was tearing her apart. If only she was stronger or smarter, then perhaps she'd be able to save herself and her father from this mess, but there was no way she could improve while being tied up in a coffin. She tried desperately to think of plan of some sort, but everything that came to mind was just plain impossible. Angry tears were starting to drip down her cheeks. The sudden hate she felt was so strong that it made her insides burn as she grit her teeth. She wasn't angry at Khoroe or the men from Akatsuki, but she was furious at herself.

She was so hopelessly weak in both body and spirit. Despite all the positive comments she'd gotten back in the church, she was nothing but a little girl that couldn't even save herself, let alone the people she cared about. She would most likely die soon, or spend the rest of her life locked up, and all because she'd prioritized the wrong things in life. She'd been naive.

For as long as she could remember, people had told her that violence was only for those who lowered themselves to animals. Violence was evil. She'd been fed with the same sentences over and over, but it didn't bother her because that was all she knew of. 'People who fight others are those who lack the needed level of communication to solve the problem itself.' That was her fathers words. She had believed him then, and she still did to a certain extent. It made sense in her head, and she had tried to live by his philosophy and stay out of fights as well as stop them, but she was in over her head now. She didn't have the talent of speech nor the intelligence to fully understand everyone and their actions, therefore making it impossible to fully avoid violence. It was clear now that she'd thought too highly of herself. She'd thought she was clever enough to talk herself out of dangerous situations, but obviously that wasn't the case.

It was a wake up call, and not a discrete one. If she by any chance managed to escape from her current captivity, the same thing was bound to happen again because she just wasn't capable of stopping it. Facing the truth stung. She was weak.

Suddenly she tensed. Her sobbing came to a stop as she clenched her fists. Crying wasn't going to solve anything. If she truly wanted things to change, she was going to have to change herself first. She stared into the darkness with new determination, seemingly coming from nowhere. Making a silent vow to herself, she swore that if she ever managed to get away from Khoroe, she'd get stronger. She'd train both physically and mentally until she could leave the role as damsel in distress behind her and be the hero of her own story. She'd never been one to tolerate violence in general, but now her eyes were wide open. Even if she treated the people around her with respect, she couldn't expect the same thing in return. She had to be able to protect herself and those she cared about, even if it meant fighting.

**oooOOOooo**

The still pouring rain was starting to become terribly unpractical. Kakuzu huffed in annoyance as he scouted the forest area. Night was already starting to fall and they had yet to find any clues of where to look, the darkness was not helping at all. Things were starting to look really bad. He'd considered going back to the church to take the old man instead, but that small voice in the back of his head was telling him to keep looking, that going back would be a waste regardless of whether they found the girl or not. Hidan had stopped talking since they entered the woods. It was probably because he was concentrating, or he'd just run out of things to say, either way Kakuzu found himself less stressed out when his partner kept his mouth shut.

"Kakuzu!"

He should have seen that coming.

"There's some broken branches here, it looks like they've been stepped on."

Kakuzu walked over to where Hidan was kneeling and sure as hell, the first sign of life was found. Finally they were getting somewhere. Even though he didn't think highly of his white haired partner, he did have some admirable qualities. As for one, he was a good tracker even though he had no special abilities to assist him in the matter. He stopped himself from snorting out loud. He was _kind of _a good tracker. He always needed someone to point him in the right direction before he started looking. Hidan was one of those guys who had so much potential if only he used his head before acting. The moment Elisha had disappeared he'd been clueless, searching everywhere and getting nowhere, but when the locations to search had narrowed down to the forest, he became like a completely different person, more like a predator rather than his usual carefree self.

The jashinist rose to his feet and calmly inspected the bush next to the newly found trail. He brushed a couple of leaves between his fingers and eyed the path leading to a nearby mountain chain.

"I think we should go that way." He stated and pointed to the small opening between two trees.

Kakuzu gave him an indifferent glance.

"Why?"

Instead of cursing and complaining like he usually did, he kept his cool and met the masked ninjas eyes.

"There's a weird smell coming from there. It feels familiar, like smoke and metal combined."

Kakuzu pulled his mask down briefly and sniffed the air. It was difficult to make out anything other than wet earth, but as the wind picked up, he felt it. A faint scent of smoke and metal. He would have never noticed it if Hidan had kept quiet. He was still pissed at him for getting them both in such unnecessary problems, but he had to give it to him, he had talent.

Wasting no time, they sprinted off, jumping between trees at a deadly pace. The moisture from the rain made everything slippery which could have easily killed inexperienced shinobi's, luckily for both Kakuzu and Hidan, they were far from inexperienced. They ran and jumped for hours, never taking a break nor breaking a sweat. Along with Kisame, they had the most superior stamina in the whole Akatsuki, they could keep this up for days if they wanted to. All of the sudden, he felt two foreign chakra signatures approaching from a distance.

"Hidan, hide."

The command was simple and firm, leaving no room for questions or arguing. Hidan complied willingly and quickly jumped up to the crown of the trees. Kakuzu was right behind him, and in seconds, they were both completely hidden. Masking their chakra, they both crouched silently on a couple of branches, eyes scanning every movement they could make out it the rain. Kakuzu focused all his attention to the foreign chakra's, and that's when he noticed something. One was vaguely familiar, but from where? He was sure he'd felt it before. He was starting hear the faint sound of voices from a distance – damn it, why did they have to be so slow?

"If it's money you want, I can pay, I swear!" A voice struggled desperately. Kakuzu frowned. He knew that voice, but it sounded different from what he remembered.

"Quiet. Or I'll break your jaw again." The other voice replied calmly.

The two characters walked just beneath the tree in which the two Akatsuki were silently hiding. They were close enough to catch a glimpse of the bypassing strangers. Kakuzu's eyes widened in recognition. Vincent of the Deus bloodline, along with a dark clad man who carried a crossed out symbol of the hidden village of sound around his neck. So they were taking the old man too? He glanced over at Hidan and grit his teeth. His partner was practically radiating with killing intent, he was grinning like madman as he stared intently at the passing men. At that moment, he looked more like an animal than a man. Kakuzu growled inwardly. Of course he'd have to go slightly insane after playing the part of a hunter for hours. Before he could slap him out of his trance, Hidan was already halfway down the tree, scythe in his hand.

The rustling leaves caused the shinobi to look up with wide eyes before pushing his hostage out of the way. He pulled out two katana's from the holster on his back and blocked Hidan's blades just in time to avoid getting cut. Hidan laughed excitedly as he launched another set of swings against the already pissed off sound ninja. Kakuzu sighed deeply and shifted his attention to the older man who was starting to crawl away from the battle. Before Vincent managed to worm his way into some nearby bushes, Kakuzu grabbed his shirt and tossed him back so he could see his face clearly. The old man gasped as his mind registered just who he was looking at, then the fear melted of his face in an instant.

"You!" He roared in anger.

"What did you do to my daughter?! Where is she?!"

Kakuzu growled in annoyance, he wasn't in the mood for this. The masked ninja raised his palm to grab a hold of the priest, but before he could shoot his hand away, the sound ninja landed a perfect jump kick to the side of Kakuzu's head that sent him tumbling to the ground. He cursed under his breath as he picked himself up, pain already starting to throb. Why the hell couldn't Hidan keep him in check? He glanced over to the jashinist.

Oh, so that's why.

The idiot was trapped in a genjutsu, furiously swinging his scythe at a nearby tree while laughing like a maniac. Typical.

"Your friend is quite careless, I wonder if you're any better." He said tauntingly.

Kakuzu snorted as he eyed the shinobi before him. He was probably S-ranked seeing as he had no problem dealing with Hidan in such short notice, though that didn't matter. Kakuzu could easily finish him off in no time if he wanted to. Genjutsu didn't affect him in the same way it did to others, his body wasn't built in the same way as a regular human after all.

He growled under his breath. Damn, why did Hidan have to blow their cover? They could have just followed them back to the base if he'd kept his blood thirst under control.

"I can assure you, I'm nothing like that idiot over there." Kakuzu answered dryly before taking his battle stance. The sound ninja smirked.

"Your name?"

"Kakuzu. And you?"

"Novael. You look strong, so I won't hold back."

Kakuzu scoffed, as if it'd make a difference. Without wasting any time, the Akatsuki member pulled out a kunai and launched it at Hidan. The knife hit him directly in his forehead causing him to limply fall down to the ground. That should wake him up. Novael stared ridiculously at the scene before him, trying understand just what the hell was going through Kakuzu's head. The masked ninja would have laughed if he wasn't so tired and pissed off.

Novael grit his teeth then smashed his two katana's together, creating a clinging sound that stung the ears of anyone close by. Kakuzu narrowed his eyes. The air was starting feel funny, like it was vibrating. This had to be one the genjutsu's known only by sound shinobi. Novael grinned triumphantly.

"You feel that? Soon you'll be as lost as your partner was. The sound waves allows me to bend the bloo-" His words were cut off as Kakuzu sprinted head on towards Novael without any signs of internal struggle. Before he could even blink, the Akatsuki had his hands around his neck, lifting him above the ground. Novael kicked, clawed and gasped, but once Kakuzu got a hold around his prey, it was almost impossible break free.

"H-how?!"

"Elisha of the Deus bloodline, where is she?"

The sound ninja held a look of absolute fury and humiliation. It was understandable, someone of his rank probably wasn't used to getting totally overpowered.

"Fuck you!" He spat, kicking more violently.

"Yeah! Fuck you, Kakuzu!"

Novael shifted his shocked eyes to Hidan who was now grumpily walking over to the ending fight, blood dripping from his skull.

"Do you have any idea how much it hurts to get stabbed in the head?" He said irritably, completely ignoring the flabbergasted shinobi.

"You... You were dead!" The sound ninja managed to hiss. Hidan gave the man a quick glance.

"Ahh yeah, I mean no, well it happens from time to time, but not really."

Kakuzu sighed. He vaguely noticed Vincent was nowhere in sight, and it made him frown deeply. Even if they wouldn't need him in the future, he could always collect his bounty. Well, he could always let this one slip.

"The girl, where are you keeping her?" Kakuzu growled, anger lacing his voice.

Novael tensed once again.

"I'm not a goddamn squealer." He choked out.

Running out of patience, Kakuzu grunted and turned to Hidan.

"Fine then. Hidan, chop his legs off."

"W-WAIT!"

**oooOOOooo**

The sound of rain was starting to drive her insane, just how long had she been in the coffin? Except for water making contact with the lid, it was quiet. The voices had since long stopped talking, so she figured it was in the middle of the night, or perhaps they were all out running some errand. She was hungry, exhausted, cold and scared, and she was slightly ashamed about how much she missed the company of her last captors compared to Khoroe. She wasn't stupid. She knew Kakuzu and Hidan only treated her decently because of their situation, and yet there was this indefinable feeling towards them, and it wasn't hostile.

_Why? _

It had gone so fast for her to stop fearing their every breath, and at more than one time, she'd actually thought that perhaps one day, she could learn to like them. It was so irrational and strange, she didn't understand where the thoughts came from. She'd just met them, and they probably didn't see her as anything else than a burden. That wasn't the end of it. They had physically hurt people in the church, people she cared for and grew up with. They had taken her from the only safety she'd ever known of... _and still_, this peculiar feeling was there! She sighed. Obviously she was on the verge of insanity.

Elisha flinched when she accidentally moved her head, causing her open wound to sting painfully. Holding back her tears, the blonde silently huffed. The only convenient thing about her arms being tied up the way they were, was that she could easily clasp her fingers together and pray. She'd done it so many times ever since they locked her up, it would probably make a whole book if put out in text. Most of the times, it was about her father and Neriah, wishing them well. Other times, she asked for a sign, something to help her out the coffin.

Having nothing else to do, her mind decided it would be fun to make her question everything she'd ever known. Is there such a thing as good and evil? What exactly is justice? Was she really as religious as she thought she was? She bit her lip. The last subject made her hesitate. Her religion had always been a sensitive spot, mostly because she'd never really felt any passion about what she was supposedly worshiping. It was all she knew, it was all she'd been thought to believe, but the blonde had never really felt like she belonged with the rest of the believers. They had made their choice while Elisha had just been born into it. Perhaps she never really believed at all?

Elisha tensed. She heard something. It sounded like footsteps, and they were getting closer. There was more than one person, two perhaps. Her heart skipped a beat. Kakuzu? Hidan? She couldn't help but to smile, she was so ready to get out of this cramped area. Anything was better than the pitch black box. The footsteps stopped just next to the coffin as the blonde held her breath. With a loud creak, the lid was lifted and she was greeted with a shower of rain and a dark sky. It was brighter than inside the box, but not by much. The water ran down her face, and she felt herself smiling at the contact.

All of the sudden, she was pulled out of the coffin harshly. Her body landed on the wet grass so uncomfortably that for a second she thought her arms were gonna break.

"Get rid of the bindings around her legs, they're in the way."

Elisha blinked. That voice didn't sound familiar at all.

With a quick snap, the pressure on her legs lessened and blood rushed back to her feet. Before she could thank her rescuer, a hand covered in a black glove grabbed her cheek. What met her eyes frightened her. It wasn't Hidan and Kakuzu, but three ninjas she'd seen around the camp a few hours ago. The one holding her had half his face covered with a black mask, the other two was standing just behind him, eyeing the scene before them with surprisingly high interest. The way they were looking at her made her skin crawl. Both males had nasty grins plastered on their faces, and the stares they gave her where covered with lust and ill intent. Her gut clenched as realization hit her.

She screamed. Without hesitating, her legs started kicking at whatever they could reach. The masked man grunted, annoyed at her resistance. Her voice died off as his fist met her forehead. Stars covered her eyes. Elisha was so dizzy she could barely keep her eyes open, she felt herself being dragged away by the hands. Everything was turning black around her, and yet she fought her failing consciousness.

They stopped moving and dropped her fully on the ground. The blonde tried to think, tried to understand what was happening, but everything was spinning and hurting. A small part of her registered how they cut the bindings on her wrists. It was all so... odd. Now she could see everything perfectly fine, aside from the slight haze covering her eyes, but it felt like she was watching it from someone else's eyes. The masked man was kneeling above her head, holding her hands down while the other two was standing by her feet. She felt devoid of emotions, as if she had died when the man struck her. Not even when the blonde heard fabric ripping did she feel fear. Hands touched her bare stomach and she heard deep chuckles from all around her.

Then suddenly everything paused. Elisha blinked several times, trying to stay awake. Her eyes focused on the masked man above her that was currently holding her hands in a death grip, he looked scared. He released her then and starting talking, saying something that her mind couldn't quite register. He sounded like he was trying to apologize to someone, but to whom? Then he was gone, replaced by thick red liquid spraying everywhere. She heard the two men screaming and their footsteps as they started running, but soon their voices disappeared abruptly. Elisha gasped as she regained some sense. She was starting to pull out of her daze, and it hurt. The pain from her head was so intense that it almost caused her to scream out. Her body was lifted from the ground bridal style, cold metal gripping her arms and legs.

"My my, I won't be able to sell you at a reasonable price like this." Khoroe's voice filled in. He sounded disappointed and annoyed.

"Can you hear me?" He asked, sounding as polite as always.

Elisha opened her mouth, trying to respond.

"Yes." She croaked. She was still dizzy, but it was slowly fading.

"I really dislike it when my men decide to act on such impulses early in the morning." He sighed.

"I wont tie you up again, that way you can heal yourself, but I'm afraid you're gonna have to go back to your little cage."

Her throat felt thick and her eyes were already starting to sting with tears. She tried to beg him to not lock her up, but she couldn't find her voice. Before she knew it, Elisha was back in the coffin. Her whole body flinched when the lid closed with a loud bang, and she was once again trapped in the inky blackness. The blonde just stared for a moment, focusing on her breathing and trying to calm down. Just a moment ago, she'd been smiling, relieved that someone was finally bringing her out of this hell, only to have whatever hope she had left shattered. The moment she thought everything was gonna change for the better, some strangers had attempted to_ rape _her. Something inside her broke. She cried out loudly, tears running down her face as she struggled to catch her breath.

**oooOOOooo**

Kakuzu crouched silently behind a couple of bushes as he eyed the camp area. It was almost pathetic how fast Novael had provided all information they could possibly need about Elisha. Hidan insisted on staying behind to execute the shinobi, seeing as his pride had been just a little wounded by the genjutsu trick. Kakuzu saw no reason to object, he could easily handle this on his own, and if he couldn't, his partner wouldn't be far behind anyway. According to Novael's description, the girl was locked up in a coffin on the east side of the camp and it sure as hell wasn't difficult to spot which of the boxes she was in. Despite being on the other side of the camping ground, a white coffin with bloodstains could without any real effort be spotted from afar. The rain was finally coming to a stop, making it easier to see further than an arm's length which only served to further simplify the mission. Bright streams of light was starting to force their way through the clouds. Kakuzu grinned a little. What a perfect scenario to be saved in.

Wihout wasting anymore time, the masked ninja removed his Akatsuki cloak and released the fire mask beneath his shirt. He groaned out loudly as black threads found their way out of his stitches. His body convulsed violently, it was uncomfortable as always but he'd learned to deal with the pain. Within seconds, the shadow figure was standing next to him ready to attack. Kakuzu cracked his knuckles. There was no use in doing this quietly, he didn't have the patience to assassinate all the sound ninjas one by one.

Fire engulfed his vision as he ignited the nearby tents and boxes. At first, the only noise that could be heard was the crackling flames, but soon enough slurred screams and half-awake shouts reached his ears. Kakuzu calmly walked out of his hiding spot and stood in the middle of his self-made chaos. The released heart continued it's rampage, burning everything in it's path as Kakuzu took care of whatever survivor that managed to escape from the tents.

His head snapped to the left sharply. He narrowed his eyes, scanning the darker side of the forest with caution. Did he just imagine something moving out of the corner of his eye? Perhaps one of the ninjas managed to escape without him noticing? It didn't really matter though, as long as they didn't attack him he could let them run.

It only took minutes to obliterate everything and everyone in the small sized camp. As soon as all the screams died off, he returned his heart back into his body and marched over to the only box untouched by flames. The bloodstains covering the lid made him frown.

They hadn't killed her, right?

He opened the coffin a little faster than intended. His eyes widened. She wasn't dead, he could tell now that her chakra wasn't blocked by the material of the box, but she looked like she'd been dragged through hell. Her shirt was missing, blood was caked in her hair, bruises and scratches covered her entire body and a wound on her forehead was bleeding badly. At first he thought she was unconscious because she didn't show any signs that she'd even noticed him, but as he placed his cloak over her body to shield her less clothed state, her eyes squinted.

**oooOOOooo**

She was asleep, and yet not. Slipping into a false coma was much easier than dealing with the physical and mental torture that her current captors were providing. Her eyes were open, not focusing on anything at all. Everything was pitch black, and the coldness along with the discomfort from her wounds were giving her a fresh definition of despair. The blonde had never longed for death, but in less than two days she'd been introduced to more pain and suffering than she'd experienced in a lifetime. She heard noises outside but her mind ignored it, why bother? She stayed like this for minutes, until things started to change noticeably. At first there was this strange heat, like the world around her was burning. Elisha pushed the feeling away, it was probably a side effect of losing too much blood. Then she heard screams, lots of them, as if something bad was going down outside her cramped space. Just what was happening? Her consciousness was slowly returning as the panicked shouts died off into pained moans.

Then there was light. Her eyes adjusted to the brightness and was met with a calming peach colored sky. A dark silhouette was standing above her, looking down at her form. She squinted her eyes when fabric was placed over her cold body, fully bringing her out of her dazed state. She turned her head slightly, trying to see the face of whoever offered her this warmth, but the light was blinding her. She could hear her heart pound, but she wasn't scared. Even though she wasn't sure of the intent the person above her had, it felt like she was looking at a higher being, an angel. The light surrounding him almost fooled her to believe that she'd died in the coffin, and this was the creature who'd bring her to heaven. Once again she was picked up bridal style, but it felt different from when Khoroe had carried her. Elisha brought a hand up to rub her eyes and it seemed to do the trick. At first she thought she was hallucinating when Kakuzu's eyes met her, but when he casually asked her how she was feeling, she knew it was the real deal.

Instead of answering him, she just smiled. Relief. That was the feeling. Indescribable relief. She never thought she'd be so happy to see the S-ranked criminal, but she was. Her eyes started to water out of sheer happiness. This time it was really over. A question popped into her head as anxiety filled head.

"My father, is he here?" Her broken voice was nothing but a whisper, but Kakuzu seemed to hear.

"We met him a few hours ago. He escaped and we chose not to hunt him down."

She visibly relaxed in his hold. As they walked, Elisha leaned her head against his chest, not at all bothering that she shouldn't feel so secure around the Akatsuki. The forest was peaceful and quiet, and neither of them wanted to break the silence. The smell of wet earth along with the streams of light finding their way through the rustling leaves was the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen. The sky was turning into a bright blue color and the sound of chirping birds filled her ears. So this was what she'd been missing out on for 18 years? Looking up, she saw a blinding light hiding behind the crown of the trees. A smile tugged at her lips.

_The sun_.

Despite her aching wounds, she was endlessly fascinated by this moment. She was in awe. Reading about nature was nothing compared to actually witnessing it in it's greatest shape. The calm after the storm. A tantalizing feeling swept over her entire being. She felt complete, like she was awake for the first time in her life. She felt reborn.

So what was going to happen now? Her father had escaped, and somewhere inside her heart she just knew he'd be okay. Kakuzu and Hidan would take her to the Akatsuki's hidden base where she might end up dying... Or start a new life? Even if they didn't kill her, would she be able adapt to their way living? She was shocked about how fast the answer popped up in her head.

_Yes._

Something had changed within her. She didn't feel the need to rigidly retain the moral she'd been taught but didn't really feel any sort of commitment to. Would she be considered a bad person if she selfishly did whatever was necessary to protect those she cared about, rather than trying to please everyone? But more importantly, did it matter if she was a bad person? Her eyes shifted to the man holding her. What would have happened to her if he hadn't showed up? It didn't matter that he saved her because he was forced to do so, she owed him everything. This criminal, this _man_, holding her gently, had saved her from the worst experience of her life. Whatever happened from here on, she would repay him.

A gush of wind swept across her face. Everything was going to be okay, she was sure of it.


End file.
